Smart NFL analysts will say that teams should draft a quarterback every year, until they know they have one they can count on. The New Orleans Saints probably aren’t in the market for a young passer after recommitting to their contract with Derek Carr, locking in his starting role for at least the next year (and probably the next two or three seasons) with a costly restructure earlier this offseason.
Still, you never know. And Carr floundered often enough in 2023 that it’s worth questioning whether the team shouldn’t look for a better backup plan, with one eye on the future, going into the 2024 draft. Enter Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt.
Pratt has led an impressive college career, doing his part to elevate Tulane into a nationally-recognized program while breaking all sorts of school passing records. And now he’s going into the 2024 NFL draft as a favorite prospect of some scouts and coaches who will have the chance to stand on a table for him on draft day.
Should the Saints be interested? What could Pratt offer that they don’t already have? Are the costs to get him too high, given all of their team needs? Let’s break it down while weighing the pros and cons:
Remember the mantra: draft a quarterback until you have a good one. Carr is who he is at this point in his career with 10 years and 159 games to evaluate, in a variety of different systems. We know where his ceiling is with or without Klint Kubiak calling plays for him. Jake Haener was uninspiring to say the least on limited snaps in preseason last summer. The less said about Nathan Peterman’s presence on the team, the better.
Pratt, meanwhile, has performed at a high level in college and proven he can compete against other future pros. He brings the leadership qualities that NFL teams look for; they appreciate seeing him cheer on teammates during the bench press at Tulane’s pro day and speaking out on the sidelines when things are getting dicey in close games. He can lead the huddle, make big-time throws, and rally those around him. Those are qualities the Saints have missed at quarterback since Drew Brees retired three years ago.
There are other quarterbacks in this draft class who can do the same. It’s unlikely one of the top four passers will make it to the Saints’ first-round pick at No. 14, and it would be a surprise to see either Michael Penix or Bo Nix on the board in the second round at No. 45. Pratt could be available, though, and he might be worthy of that second-round choice. The Saints could draft an impactful rookie in the first round before adding a quarterback the next day. Having Pratt on an affordable rookie deal would make it easier to move on from Derek Carr in a year or two; that split, whenever it happens, is going to leave a lot of dead money behind.
Let’s start with the obvious: there is no indication the Saints are preparing to move on from Carr. Dennis Allen recruited him and convinced the Saints to pay him so highly because he believes he’s the right quarterback for this team. Restructuring Carr’s contract makes it very, very difficult to get out of in 2025 at the soonest. Odds are good that they will restructure his deal again and set him up to play out a contract year in 2026. What happens after that is anyone’s guess.
To that end, spending one of the two picks the Saints own in the first four rounds on a quarterback is reckless. This team needs new starters at left tackle and left guard and improved depth at wide receiver, defensive end, and defensive tackle, to say nothing of other positions with long-term questions like tight end and running back. They must at least upgrade the backup plan if Ryan Ramczyk can’t start at right tackle, or else look for his replacement, too. There are too many holes to address to justify an early-round quarterback. New Orleans needs immediate contributors.
And maybe Pratt isn’t all his numbers and rah-rah efforts suggest him to be. He didn’t throw many interceptions in college (just 26 on 1,204 pass attempts) but he did try a lot of risky throws. Pro Football Focus charting found he threw a turnover-worthy pass on 3.5% of his attempts. For comparison, Jameis Winston was at 5.1% on his 335 passes with the Saints the last four years. Carr was at 2.3% on 548 throws last season. Passing windows tighten up in the NFL and quarterbacks can’t get away with as many risky throws as they did in college. Maybe Pratt gets intercepted more often.
Don’t bet on it. Sink or swim, the Saints are Derek Carr’s team so long as Dennis Allen is steering the ship. Nathan Peterman was brought in to get knocked down by Jake Haener during training camp, allowing the second-year pro to say he earned the opportunity to back up Carr (without having anyone question the decision to start Carr over him if he struggles, as happened whenever Jameis Winston got into games last year). Drafting someone as competent as Pratt, with his baked-in local support, would put pressure on Carr that Allen probably isn’t looking for.
And besides all that, the Saints don’t have the luxury of spending a top-50 draft pick on a player who won’t see the field as a rookie. They need starters at two, maybe three different positions. They’re going to be looking for backups who can play heavy minutes in rotations at several other groups. Passing on the opportunity to put out one of those fires could burn them badly.
Still, Pratt is the exact kind of quarterback the Saints have looked for in the draft in recent years. He’s a more-accomplished passer than Ian Book was coming out of Notre Dame but brings similar athletic testing numbers. He achieved more than Haener did at Fresno State and is closer to the physical prototype, standing two inches taller and weighing 10 pounds heavier. Scouts in New Orleans have gotten a good look at him over the years and it shouldn’t shock anyone if he’s highly-regarded by the team’s college personnel department. But when we get to draft day and the Saints are on the clock, it would be a big upset for Pratt (or any other quarterback) to end up in black and gold during the first three or four rounds.