Highlights

• Drew Brees is far and away the greatest quarterback in New Orleans Saints history.
• Archie Manning, the father of Peyton and Eli, was a standout quarterback for the Saints despite playing on bad teams.
• Despite playing just three years in New Orleans, Jim Everett ranks fifth in franchise history in passing yards and touchdown passes.

Let's just make this perfectly clear from the get-go. When it comes to ranking the top New Orleans Saints quarterbacks of all time, it's Drew Brees and then everyone else.

We've compiled the top five Saints QBs in franchise history, and nobody even flirts with Brees as the best ever. While Brees began his Hall of Fame career in the NFL with the San Diego Chargers, he made a name for himself with the Saints with better than 68,000 passing yards. No other New Orleans quarterback has thrown for more than 22,000.

While Brees is a given at No. 1, rounding out the top five quarterbacks in Saints history is a challenge. Here is a closer look at the four behind Brees on the all-time list.

1 Drew Brees

Drew Brees blows away the competition among all-time great Saints quarterbacks

The Chargers selected Brees out of Purdue in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft, and he had his breakout season three years later. After going 2-9 as a starter in 2003, Brees earned Comeback Player of the Year in 2004 when he went 11-4 in his 15 starts and threw for 3,159 yards and 27 touchdowns. He earned the first of his 13 Pro Bowl selections that season.

In 2005, Brees went 9-7 but tore the labrum in his right throwing shoulder in the final game of the regular season. He underwent offseason surgery and ultimately left the Chargers, who had already given a hefty amount of money to Philip Rivers, and signed a strong offer from the Saints.

Brees spent the next 15 years in New Orleans and earned the lone First-Team All-Pro selection (he took four Second-Team honors) of his career in his first season with the Saints. In that 2006 season, Brees led the NFL with 4,418 passing yards and led the Saints to a 10-6 record. The team had gone 3-13 in 2005 and were unable to play any games at the Superdome because of the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.

In 2009, Brees went 13-2 as the starter and led the NFL in touchdown passes (34) and completion percentage (70.6%). He also guided the Saints to a victory over Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl 44 and was named Super Bowl MVP.

Brees was a 12-time Pro Bowler with the Saints, was named Offensive Player of the Year in 2008 and 2011, and finished second in the NFL MVP voting four times. He also led the NFL in passing yards on seven occasions. Brees, who's not only the greatest quarterback in Saints history but also one of the greatest in NFL history, is far and away the franchise's leader in both passing yards (68,010) and touchdown passes (491).

2 Archie Manning

The original Manning QB, Archie did all he could for some pretty bad New Orleans teams

Don't be consumed by the numbers. Archie Manning was a very good quarterback on some very bad Saints teams.

Manning, the father of Peyton and Eli, is a College Football Hall of Famer after a stellar career at Ole Miss and was the second overall pick in the 1971 NFL Draft. New Orleans became an NFL franchise in 1967, and Manning was the one expected to help turn the team around after they'd gone 14-40-2 in their first four years of existence. It didn't happen, and it was hardly Manning's fault.

Manning had a tough time staying upright early in his career. As a rookie, he went 3-5-2 in 10 starts and was sacked a league-high 40 times. In his second year, he was sacked 43 times, also a league-worst. Manning did his part by airing it out as his 448 pass attempts topped the NFL, but New Orleans still went just 2-11-1 that year. He then missed the entire 1976 season with a shoulder injury.

Manning did make two straight Pro Bowls in 1978 and 1979. He guided the Saints to their first non-losing season in history in '79, leading the team to an 8-8 record. In 1980, Manning threw for a career-high 3,716 yards and 23 touchdown passes, but the Saints went 1-15.

In 11 seasons in New Orleans, Manning went 35-91-3 but still ranks second behind Brees on the team's all-time passing list with 21,734 yards. His 115 touchdown passes are good for third.

3 Bobby Hebert

Bobby Hebert led the Saints to three 10-plus win seasons in seven years

Undrafted out of Northwestern State in 1983, Bobby Hebert began his professional football career with the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League. He led the team to a championship as a rookie and left the league after three years as its all-time passing yards leader.

Hebert hooked on with the Saints in 1985 and played his first two seasons primarily as a backup. In 1987, he was named the team's starter and went 10-2 in his 12 starts. In those first two years as the team's starter, he went 20-8, leading them to a pair of 10-win seasons.

Hebert sat out the entire 1990 season in a contract dispute, but he returned in 1991 and went 8-1 in nine starts. The following year, he won 12 games and threw for a career-high 3,287 yards. In seven years with the Saints, Hebert compiled a record of 49-26. He's fourth in franchise history in both passing yards (14,360) and touchdown passes (85).

He signed with the Atlanta Falcons in 1993 and played four years there, going 7-18 as the team's starter.

4 Aaron Brooks

Aaron Brooks is second in Saints history with 120 touchdown passes

The Green Bay Packers selected Aaron Brooks in the fourth round of the 1999 NFL Draft, but he sat behind Brett Favre and Matt Hasselbeck and didn't see any action as a rookie. Green Bay quickly traded Brooks to the Saints before the 2000 season.

Brooks showed promise in his first season in New Orleans, going 3-2 in five starts and throwing for 1,514 yards and nine touchdown passes. He took control of the QB1 role in 2001, going 7-9, and then began a string of four straight seasons in which he threw for better than 3,500 yards.

Statistically, Brooks had his best season in 2003, throwing for 3,546 yards and tossing just 24 touchdown passes against just eight interceptions. He also ran for 175 yards and a pair of scores.

Brooks ultimately played six seasons with the Saints and went 38-44 as the starter. He remains third on the team's all-time passing list with 19,156 yards, and his 120 touchdown passes rank second in franchise history behind Brees.

Brooks left New Orleans after the 2005 campaign and joined the Oakland Raiders, going 0-8 in 2006, which proved to be his final season in the league.

5 Jim Everett

Jim Everett played three seasons with the Saints and is fifth in team history in passing yards and TD passes

Rounding out the top five was a chore, but we decided to go with longtime Rams quarterback Jim Everett based on two seasons with the Saints in which he nearly threw for 4,000 yards.

After a stellar eight-year run with the Rams, Everett came to New Orleans as the starting quarterback in 1994. He started all 16 games and went just 7-9 but put up some big numbers. In his first season with the team, he racked up 3,855 passing yards and threw 22 touchdown passes.

In his second season, he put up similar numbers. Again, he went 7-9 but threw for 3,970 yards and added 26 touchdown passes. He had an unforgettable third season in New Orleans, going 3-12 and throwing 12 touchdown passes.

In three years with the Saints, Everett went 17-30. But despite playing just those three years in New Orleans, Everett is still fifth in franchise history with 10,622 passing yards. His 60 touchdown passes are also good for fifth in team history.

All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.