An electric start to the season unfortunately fizzled out far too quickly for the New Orleans Saints. After the first two weeks, they returned to Earth and were a 3-12 team the rest of the way.
Some of that can be attributed to quarterback Derek Carr going down with an injury. But even with Carr at the helm, there wasn’t enough talent on the team to sustain that run. Now, the Saints walk into next season with a ton of questions.
New Orleans’ quarterback is up for an extension, and its salary cap situation is a mess. Now might be the best time for the Saints to buckle down and embrace a rebuild, and one analyst believes they could take the first step in that process in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Can the New Orleans Saints Find Their Quarterback of the Future?
Injuries continue to pile on for Carr, and even when healthy, he tallied just 2,145 yards in 10 games while adding 15 touchdowns to the total. Still, if New Orleans can find a way to make him return for another year, it might help an offense that ultimately finished as the 22nd-ranked unit on PFSN’s Offense+ metric.
Yet, keeping an eye on the future is becoming a necessity for the Saints as the average age of the roster continues to go up. As a result, Joe DeLeone of PFSN has a solution for New Orleans late in the draft.
While he has them improving their offensive and defensive fronts early in the draft, DeLeone believes adding Jalen Milroe at No. 71 overall in the third round is the way forward.
“If Derek Carr is given one more shot this season, New Orleans should seek out their future quarterback with the cheapest route possible.”
The defense needs some improvement, but new head coach Kellen Moore has shown his propensity for bringing the best out of his quarterbacks. Under his tutelage, Jalen Hurts led the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl victory, where he was named the game’s MVP. And with Milroe, DeLeone believes Moore could do the same in due time.
“Jalen Milroe is a very gifted athlete and has a very high ceiling as a prospect. If [he] develops as a decision-maker for a few years, he could eventually be Kellen Moore’s Jalen Hurts.”
The Alabama quarterback had a solid season, tallying 2,844 passing yards, along with 16 touchdowns to his name. He showcased his dynamism as well, totaling 726 rushing yards and a mind-boggling 20 rushing touchdowns in his final year with the Crimson Tide.
Milroe finished his collegiate career with 6,016 passing yards, 45 passing touchdowns, and 20 interceptions on a 64.3% completion percentage while also rushing for 1,577 yards and 33 touchdowns.
Those numbers sound eerily similar to Hurts’ stat lines. And with Moore having the experience already, Milroe could be the ideal man to lead the Saints going forward.