Saints meet top QB prospects, but no urgency to replace Drew Brees
One of these years, the New Orleans Saints could wind up drafting Drew Brees’ successor in Round 1, maybe even this year if they find a quarterback they absolutely covet.
For the third year in a row, the Saints have been meeting with many of the top quarterback prospects at the NFL scouting combine, including Deshaun Watson and Mitch Trubisky, according to the New Orleans Advocate and other reports.
However, the Saints’ efforts would still probably be better classified as due diligence than as a determination to find Brees’ successor.
Even though Brees is 38 years old and heading into the final year of his contract, general manager Mickey Loomis expressed long-term confidence in Brees to the Saints’ website Friday.
“I fully expect Drew to spend the entirety of the balance of his career with us. And I think he does as well,” Loomis said. “So I’m not worried about it. I don’t think he’s worried about it.”
As I’ve written in recent months, I do think Brees would prefer a long-term commitment from the Saints. But he likely won’t make a public push for a long-term extension this offseason after the Saints made it clear last year that they’d rather work in one-year increments to keep their options open long-term.
The Saints shouldn’t have any concerns about an imminent drop-off with Brees, though, after he just had his best season in five years, once again leading the NFL with 5,208 passing yards.
“Every year, we’re looking at and evaluating the quarterback class,” coach Sean Payton told the Saints’ website. “This year would be no different. It becomes a little bit more, not paramount, but the focus becomes a little bit more shifted in that direction, when you look at Drew’s age and his experience. And yet, we saw him play at a level last year that would be hard to suggest we’ve seen a decline. He’s doing exceptionally well.
“But we would evaluate this class no different than the prior. We’re looking closely at who the top players are, who’s here, and then really trying to grade them compared to each other, but then also grade them relative to where they would fit in any draft. That’s one of the more difficult positions to evaluate.”
Round 1: April 27, 8 p.m. ETNFL draft home page »
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• McShay: Top prospects by position
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Last year was a perfect example of the Saints’ discerning approach. They liked Jared Goff and might have considered him if he fell outside of the top five or 10 picks (which he didn’t, going No. 1 overall). But they weren’t as keen on Paxton Lynch, who was available when New Orleans picked at No. 12.
This year, the Saints have the No. 11 pick, and ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported they could potentially move up to No. 5 in one possible trade scenario with the Tennessee Titans for Brandin Cooks. So that could put them in a position to draft someone like Clemson’s national championship star Watson, North Carolina’s Trubisky, Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer or Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes.
But draft analysts are split on whether any of those QBs is a sure thing in the early part of Round 1. So the Saints will have to really be swayed to take the leap this year, particularly since they have more glaring needs on defense and still feel they have a chance to contend for the playoffs while Brees is still thriving.
