METAIRIE, La. -- Saints quarterback Drew Brees crossed paths with Wes Welker in 2004. Brees was with the San Diego Chargers and Welker was an undrafted free agent out of Texas Tech.

"Wes was awesome," Brees said. "... He was one of these work-hard guys, thousand miles an hour all the time. I remember throwing a touchdown pass to him in the preseason in 04 and he ended up making our team as our kickoff returner."

A few injuries forced the Chargers to release Welker in order to toy with the roster, but the plan was to bring him back, Brees said.

"The minute we released him he got picked up on waivers by Miami and the rest is history because I think a couple of weeks later he was their best slot wide receiver as well as their kicker got hurt and he was kicking off and kicking field goals for them against the Patriots of all people."

In 2007, the Patriots traded for Welker sending a second-round and seventh round pick in the 2007 draft to the Dolphins. Welker leads the league in receptions with 79 and has 854 yards and four touchdowns.

"I have a lot of respect for him," Brees said. "I think he was always one of those guys, I love the way he worked. I love the way he approached the game. He was competitive. He was tough, and he was one of those guys you looked at and just said, 'if any guy deserves to be successful, it's this guy.'''