While the potential for Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr to end up in New Orleans continues to pick up steam, it’s important to remember that nothing is guaranteed. Much like last year’s Deshaun Watson pursuit, the Saints could wind up empty-handed at quarterback while Carr agrees to be traded or agrees to free agency terms with another team. If that happens, the Saints would likely have to turn back to Andy Dalton, the passer that started the majority of the team’s games in 2022.
If that were to happen, New Orleans would be justified in being aggressive in this year’s draft in order to land a potential quarterback of the future. Now that they are back in the first round after trading the rights of former head coach Sean Payton to the Denver Broncos, there are a lot of possibilities open. They could stand pat at No. 29 and grab a second-tier passer early to have the benefit of a fifth-year option on that player. They could wait around until the second round and select a signal-caller at pick 40. Or, if they really liked someone higher up in the draft, they could make a bold move to grab them.
That’s what we did in this seven-round mock draft. In this simulation, the Saints do not land Carr or any other big-ticket quarterback on the market. Thus, they re-sign Dalton and look to the draft to grab a prospect from a program they love that could be ready to start by 2024, if not sooner.