State Of The Offseason Saints: Quarterback
Things keep rolling along for the Saints, as we're in the early stages of the offseason. New Orleans should start making some changes soon enough, but we'll have to stay patient to see what actually happens. The long and short of it is that there's a lot to figure out going into 2024, and we start a series that looks at each group and assesses where the team is at. Today is all about the most important position, the quarterback.
Saints Quarterback Overview
Derek Carr; Credit: USA TODAY SPORTS
Players Under Contract: Derek Carr, Jake Haener, Taysom Hill
Free Agent Outlook: Jameis Winston
Priority Level: Medium
Last year at this time, Dennis Allen was preaching the importance of addressing the quarterback position for the Saints. While we saw plenty of things unfold, Allen and company zeroed in and got their guy in Derek Carr to lead the way. The addition of Carr brought a lot of hope and promise, but that all changed when he got hurt against the Packers in Week 3.
Carr hit a major bump in the road early in the year, playing hurt all the way up until the final several games. In between there, we saw the red zone struggles, miscommunication and obvious frustration that built up. Carr also got knocked from the Vikings game after a brutal hit. He might have been down, but was never out of it. He showed off some real toughness, and at the end of it all, Carr finished out with respectable numbers, being one of the hottest quarterbacks down the stretch. Honestly, New Orleans got exactly what they paid for.
Derek Carr's Stats and Ranks From 2023
- Completions (7th): 375
- Attempts (10th): 548
- Yards (13th): 3,878
- Average (T-15th): 7.1
- Long (T-28th): 58
- TDs (10th): 25
- INTs (T-20th): 8
- Sacks (T-14th): 31
- Sack Yards (T-15th): 218
- Rating (10th): 97.7
Not that it was ever a question, but Carr returns as the starter for 2024, and he'll be a big reason why Dennis Allen fails or succeeds. Jake Haener and Taysom Hill are also in the quarterback room for now, and it'll be fascinating to see what happens over the next few months for the group.
From a coaching standpoint, Pete Carmichael Jr. might also be out of the picture for the Saints offense as the coordinator, and we'll see what happens with Ronald Curry and his current role as the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Heading into the new league year, Jameis Winston is set to become a free agent, but New Orleans has some time to get him back in the building if they want. After what happened in the final game of the season, that might be a little easier said than done, but don't rule it out. When Carr did get hurt against Minnesota, Winston came in and was able to generate a big spark. As I said well before the year started, he was the best insurance policy to Carr.
If Winston is out, then the Saints really need to get another veteran backup behind Carr. Some way-too-early free agent targets would include Ryan Tannehill, Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew. Of course, it probably won't be a pressing priority when free agency start, but the need will be there for New Orleans to fill it if Winston leaves.
I've seen plenty of people bark hard for the Saints to use No. 14 to take a quarterback, and I hate to break it to you, but it's almost a lock that it's not going to happen. You're not going to see Jayden Daniels in New Orleans. The Saints are committed to Derek Carr and are not thinking about nor looking for a successor at this point in time, and to be honest, they have other pressing needs to figure out.
If you need more reasons why a rookie isn't the answer, then look at the offensive line. A team has to be able to protect the quarterback and also run the football, and the New Orleans rushing attack was pretty underwhelming. Even a scenario where you draft someone to sit on the bench to develop doesn't seem realistic, because again, 14th and 45th should go to other positions.
Again, the reality facing the Saints in 2024 is that Derek Carr is their guy and will run the offense for a second straight season. The final five games of the year showed us what was the true potential of the offense, and the fact that they performed so well without some of their key components was encouraging. If Carr plays more like the player in the regular season finale, then New Orleans might steal a few games next year. Of course, that's speaking about things now, as we have a long time before we even get in the same area code of that conversation.
