Saints Predicted To Land QB Shedeur Sanders In Surprise Trade With NFC South Rival

Will the Saints make Sanders their next starter?

Nov 29, 2024; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders (2) celebrates a third quarter touchdown pass against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

One could look at the New Orleans Saints' quarterback situation through a pessimistic or optimistic lens these days.

Year three of Derek Carr's four-year, $150 million contract is set to begin after he and the Saints restructured his deal to save nearly $31 million in cap space last month. But Carr hardly looks like a long-term solution at age 34, especially coming off an injury-plagued 2024 season.

The obvious downside is that the Saints don't have a franchise quarterback, nor a good enough offense to support a game manager. But if Carr is going to be around no matter what this season, he could be in a perfect position to mentor a rookie.

Which rookie could be a fit for the Saints? All signs have been pointing to Colorado star Shedeur Sanders, who might well be available when New Orleans is on the clock with the ninth pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.

CBS' Tom Fornelli has a more radical idea for the Saints, though. Fornelli predicted Friday that the Saints would pass on Sanders at number nine, but trade back into the first round with the division-rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers to draft the 23-year-old with the 19th overall pick.

"An NFC South swap!" Fornelli wrote. "The Saints move back into the first round to draft Shedeur Sanders, whom I'm sure has been shown on the television broadcast no fewer than 1,500 times at this point, with countless updates on his body language.

"Anyway, the Saints don't have a long-term answer behind Derek Carr, and this allows Sanders to sit and develop for a season, or perhaps win the job straight away."

In two seasons at Colorado, Sanders passed for 64 touchdowns to just 13 interceptions. He's not the fastest or the strongest-armed signal-caller, but he sees the field well, is accurate, and makes good reads.

If the Buccaneers handed the Saints the pick that landed them their quarterback of the future, it would be talked about in NFC South lore for decades. But first things first: Sanders would have to prove he was the right man for the job.

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