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What are the New Orleans Saints going to do at quarterback? Drew Brees, Teddy Bridgewater, and Taysom Hill are each headed for free agency, and Bridgewater has more or less made his peace with the reality that he could be playing for a new team next year. While it would be difficult for the Saints to retain all three of them, the most-realistic scenario would be a combination of Brees and Hill, whose restricted free agent status makes him easiest to re-sign for 2020.
And that’s a future Brees is comfortable seeing through. During an appearance on Pro Football Talk Live with Chris Simms, Brees said, “If I’m back, and Taysom’s along side me, call the plays that puts us in the best position to win. If that means Taysom Hill is taking 30 snaps a game, 25 snaps a game, so be it. I’m all for that.”
Hill averaged 15 snaps per game last season, and only reached the 25-snap bar three times in the entire year — doing so in Weeks 13, 15, and 16. Brees arguing for increased usage out of the third-string quarterback (whose chess-piece role as a runner, receiver, and blocker is really more analogous to San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Jusczyk than any other player) certainly passes the smell test.
It’s tough to argue with that stance. Hill was an electric presence for the Saints offense in 2019, making big plays both as a runner and receiver thanks to his unique athleticism. He has a lot of work to do before he’ll be ready to play as a full-time quarterback, so his short-term projection looks a lot like last season — when he ran 31 times to gain 209 yards (6.7 yards per attempt) and caught 21 passes for 259 receiving yards, scoring 8 combined touchdowns from scrimmage. It makes plenty of sense that Brees wants to see Hill getting more touches. But it’ll be fascinating to see how the situation develops in the months ahead.
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