The New Orleans Saints already have made it known who will be the team's starting quarterback in 2025.
Rumors were flowing for weeks about the future of four-time Pro Bowler Derek Carr. General manager Mickey Loomis addressed the question ahead of the National Football League Scouting Combine and made it sound like Carr is going to be the team's guy in 2025. He has a huge cap number right now, but he didn't shy away from him.
The Saints have a lot of work to do to get to cap compliance before the new NFL league year, but it would be pretty surprising if Carr wasn't with the team in 2025. Could the Saints still add another signal-caller, though?
The Athletic's Zack Rosenblatt predicted that the Saints' quarterback room with feature both Carr and 23-year-old phenom Shedeur Sanders.
"Saints: Derek Carr and Shedeur Sanders," Rosenblatt said. "The Saints don’t really have much of an avenue to improve this position and might be stuck with Carr for now. New Orleans is already $47 million over the cap and wouldn’t get much relief by cutting Carr pre-June 1 ($1.3 million), and he’s unlikely to garner any trade interest at this point. So the Saints are more likely to just roll with him for one more year.
"That wouldn’t preclude them from drafting someone. I think it’s conceivable at this point that Sanders drops out of the Top 5; he would offer the Saints a way out of the quarterback purgatory they’ve found themselves in since Drew Brees retired. If Sanders falls to No. 9 and the Saints are high enough on him, it’s worth taking the swing."
The Saints have the No. 9 pick in the upcoming draft, and there has been some chatter that Sanders may not get picked as high as some initially expected. If he's available at No. 9, it could make sense to bring him in for the future.
Sanders is one of the top two quarterbacks in this draft class. It would make for a fun year if they could draft him.
To Pair $12 Million Playmaker With Chris Olave
The New Orleans Saints are going to be very busy over the next few days as they attempt to get into cap compliance ahead of the new National Football League calendar year.
The new league year will begin on March 12th and the team has a lot of cap room to clear still. Once the new league year gets here and free agency begins, the Saints will then likely be on the lookout for pieces that can help the team in 2025. New Orleans isn't going to have a ton of money to spend, but it has some holes to fill.
Adding another pass-catcher into the mix would make sense and The Athletic's Mike Jones predicted that the Saints will do so by signing veteran receiver Darius Slayton.
"New Orleans Saints: WR Darius Slayton," Jones said. "Derek Carr needs another weapon and the steady Slayton, who has averaged 720 receiving yards and four touchdowns a season, with 15 yards per catch, could fit nicely as a sidekick to Chris Olave while giving new coach Kellen Moore’s offense additional firepower."
Slayton would be the perfect pickup for the Saints. He had a two-year, $12 million deal and is coming off a season in which he had 573 receiving yards and 39 receptions in 16 games played. Those numbers may not warrant a large contract, but he is a talented receiver. The Giants had rough luck at the quarterback position last year so you can't really expect anyone to put up eye-popping numbers -- aside from Malik Nabers.
The Saints made it clear that they aren't rebuilding, as they made it sound like they are sticking with Derek Carr. Adding a piece like Slayton to the offense surely could help. With Carr under center, a receiving trio of Chris Olave, Slayton, and Rashid Shaheed, Alvin Kamara at running back, and maybe an offensive weapon at No. 9 in the upcoming NFL Draft, maybe this offense could cook.
