NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans has plenty of options to replace Drew Brees after his retirement.
Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill are the most likely options, with reports coming out that the job is Winston’s to lose. Hill, however, got four starts last season while Brees was out with injury and led the team to a 3-1 record.
This is also a very active off season for quarterbacks. Matthew Stafford was traded to the LA Rams for a king’s ransom of draft picks and QB Jarred Goff.
The Eagles’ Carson Wentz is now an Indianapolis Colt. Could the Saints trade for a talented QB unhappy with their current team?
There’s plenty of talent in this year’s draft class as well that the Saints could buy into for the future.
Here are their options:
Taysom Hill
With a reported 4-year, $140 million deal that ESPN's Adam Schefter tweeted about, it's likely that Hill is the odds on favorite.
Hill proved he can be the Saints starter during his 3-1 stint filling in for Brees last season.
Sure, his play style isn’t traditional, but Sean Payton can tailor the offense around his talents to completely re-make the Saints offense for a new era in New Orleans.
Hill did struggle with ball security, fumbling 11 times last season, and handling the blitz proved to be a problem.
In Hill’s defense though, those were his first four NFL starts.
A whole training camp as the starter in an offense built around him can only help.
Is that enough for the Saints to name him the starter though?
He's under contract with the Saints for one more season before becoming an unrestricted free agent.
Jameis Winston
The Saints didn’t see much of Winston on the field this season, but he does have a long record as an NFL starter to look back on.
Winston’s started 70 games in the NFL, throwing 121 touchdowns with a completion rate just over 60%. At the same time, he threw 88 interceptions and fumbled the ball 50 times. Thirty of those interceptions came in his final year with Tampa Bay under head coach Bruce Arians.
He also has a history of off-the-field issues, including a sexual assault trial in 2012 and groping an Uber driver in 2016, which he was suspended from playing for three games for.
The Saints had him on the bench for his 1-year deal with the team.
He’s currently an unrestricted free agent.
Deshaun Watson
Out of all the QBs on this list, Deshaun Watson is arguably the most talented.
Watson is a franchise quarterback entering his prime and forcing his way out of Houston to a more stable franchise.
The biggest problem is the price. The Los Angeles Rams gave up Jared Goff, a quality starting QB that led them to a Super Bowl, two first-round picks and a third-round pick. Watson is eight years younger than Stafford and arguably more talented.
On a struggling Texans team in 2020, Watson still threw for more than 4,800 yards and 33 touchdowns to just seven interceptions. He ran for another 444 yards and three TDs on top of that.
And his cap hit for 2021? Just $10.5 million. Far below what he’ll earn in his next contract.
Sam Darnold
The former No. 3 overall pick is still under his rookie contract, but his time as a New York Jet has seen plenty of turbulence already.
Darnold has shown flashes of the talent that made him a top prospect, but injuries and a franchise in need of direction haven’t made life easy for him.
There are rumors that the Jets could look to move on, possibly grabbing a new QB with this year’s No. 2 overall pick. If they do, could Darnold restart his career in New Orleans?
His 2020 season was nothing to write home about, throwing just 9 TDs in 12 games along with 11 interceptions, but he could be a low-risk, high-reward option to compete in training camp if the Saints can get him for the right price.
Russell Wilson
Russell Wilson has always been a big fan of Drew Brees and the two share a common bond in stature and with a Super Bowl win on their resumes.
Wilson would have been thought to be untouchable, but apparently he has had a major falling out with the Seahawks. The Saints fans think so highly of Wilson that even Mayor LaToyal Cantrell has hopped on the bandwagon with a tweet saying he would be more than welcome here.
Wilson would come at a high price and the Saints aren't expected to have draft picks high in the first round any time soon, but they do have a plethora of talented players that they could package. It's a long shot, but, like Watson, Wilson would immediately resurrect talk of Super Bowl contention.
Draft Prospects
No, the Saints won’t draft Trevor Lawrence. The price to get that No. 1 overall pick would be STEEP, if the Jaguars are even willing to part with it at all.
There are, however, plenty of solid prospects the Saints could grab.
Justin Fields
The Saints would likely have to trade up, but the Ohio State QB could be worth it. During his 22 starts as a Buckeye, Fields put up more than 5,000 passing yards and threw for 63 TDs to just nine interceptions while running for 15 TD on 867 yards.
Fields has a big arm turned heads in this year’s Sugar Bowl when he threw for four TDs after a rib injury.
He’s expected to be a top-10 pick.
Zach Wilson
BYU’s junior QB might be the best “pure passer” in this year’s draft. Wison threw for 3,692 yards, 33 TDs and three interceptions in 12 games this season. And he did it with a 73.5% completion percentage.
His biggest issue going into the draft is the competition he went up against last season. The best team BYU played was No. 14 Coastal Carolina, who they only put up 17 points against.
He’s another prospect the Saints would have to trade up for. He’s been forecast to go as high as No. 2 overall to the Jets.
Trey Lance
He’s an undefeated national champion. Sounds good, right? Well, it might not sound AS good when you know it happened at the FCS level.
It’s still an impressive streak though. Lance and the Bisons went 17-0 to win the 2019 FCS championship. Their 2020 season has been pushed back to the Spring.
During that run, he threw for 28 passing touchdowns and no interceptions along with 1,100 rushing yards for 14 more TDs.
Again, that was against lesser competition than the other top QB prospects in this draft.
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t belong in the NFL, but he might be more of a long-term prospect rather than an immediate starter.
He’s projected to be a mid-late first round pick.
Mac Jones
The reigning National Champion had an amazing season at Alabama.
Jones threw for 4,500 yards and 41 TDs to just four interceptions in 2020.
He’s been praised for his ability to read defenses, set his receivers up for success and pretty much any other accolade you could drop on a QB prospect.
The problem? He went to Alabama.
Jones was surrounded by NFL-level talent and one of the best coaches in college football history. Can he still succeed in the NFL on a more balanced playing field?
He’s projected to go in the last first round or second round, the perfect spot for the Saints to grab him without having to make any moves.
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