Some members of the NFL community believe that the New Orleans Saints could reach out to the Cleveland Browns regarding a trade for veteran quarterback Joe Flacco or former Pittsburgh Steelers starter Kenny Pickett after Derek Carr retired due to reasons related to a significant shoulder injury.
On Monday, NFL insider Albert Breer
of Sports Illustrated explained why first-year New Orleans head coach Kellen Moore believes his quarterback situation is “manageable” as 2025 second-round draft pick Tyler Shough prepares to compete with 2024 fifth-round draft choice Spencer Rattler and 2023 fourth-round selection Jake Haener for the club’s starting job.
“All three of the guys in their competition entered the league with a high volume of college experience — Spencer Rattler started 42 games in college, Tyler Shough 32 and Jake Haener 29, while the three combined for 18 seasons on NCAA rosters,” Breer wrote. “Generally, that sort of time on task does help a guy when he’s breaking in as an NFL starter. Second, at least with Shough and Rattler, there was a (run-pass option) skill set apparent in college that should allow for Kellen Moore and staff to deploy some simpler concepts early on.”
Shough was arguably the most pro-ready quarterback in the 2025 class before the Saints made him the 40th overall pick of the draft, and he’ll be 26 years old by the time September comes to an end. Haener has made just one regular-season start during his pro career, while Rattler went 0-6 as a starter during his rookie campaign.
As of Monday afternoon, FanDuel Sportsbook had Shough as a -310 betting favorite to be New Orleans’ Week 1 QB1 over Rattler (+215). At that same time, Haener was a +3500 betting underdog to win the club’s quarterback competition.
“With Kelvin Banks Jr. and Taliese Fuaga at the tackles, and Erik McCoy and Cesar Ruiz inside, the line should be a real strength,” Breer added about the Saints. “And after the Saints resisted trade overtures for Chris Olave (who’s had a very solid offseason) from Cleveland and Pittsburgh earlier in the year, the skill group comes back in good shape, if maybe in need of one more bigger body at receiver.”
Breer mentioned that free agent receiver Keenan Allen previously had Moore as an offensive coordinator when the two were with the Los Angeles Chargers during the 2023 season. However, ESPN’s Matt Bowen thinks Allen could sign with the Arizona Cardinals rather than the Saints.
Of course, it’s possible that the three main candidates set to compete for the New Orleans gig will perform so poorly through training camp and the preseason that Moore and Co. will feel they need to acquire a talent such as Flacco or Pickett before September arrives. Barring such a development, though, it sounds like the Saints’ Week 1 starter will be on the roster when exhibition games get underway later this summer.
For what it’s worth, Browns reporter Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer thinks Cleveland could hold onto Flacco and Pickett through the team’s final preseason game even though the Browns also have rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders in their quarterback room.
