Where the wave of second-tier quarterback prospects sends those players will be one of this draft’s top storylines, and teams are doing work on forging reasonable paths to securing QB real estate. This has involved the Browns and Giants discussing trades that involve using their early-second-round picks to climb back into Round 1. The Saints are at work on a similar route as well.
Mentioned a few times as less likely to use the No. 9 overall pick on a quarterback — in a much-maligned draft at the position (outside of Cam Ward) — New Orleans has begun to discuss trades with teams that would involve a move down from that point, Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz reports. Additional pick(s) gained from a move down would, Schultz adds, likely be used in a trade package to come back into the first round for a passer.
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This draft’s lack of blue-chip talent, or a second QB deemed worthy of a top-10 pick, has made trading down from the top 10 rather difficult. Offers are not believed to be carrying full value, which would complicate a Saints odyssey down from 9. It depends on how serious New Orleans is about a plan to find a Derek Carr successor without using its first-round pick. The Saints hold No. 40 overall as well; that pick has been viewed as the franchise’s more likely centerpiece of a trade to acquire a long-term option.
The 2025 QB class is not viewed as the greatest talent array to land such a player, the Saints are nevertheless in this position due to Carr’s murky status. The team had hoped to have pre-draft clarity on Carr, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, but no such answers — regarding a surgery that would impact the QB’s availability for 2025 — have emerged.
Seeing as we are nearing May, it is a bit odd this much mystery still clouds Carr’s future. The situation may offer reminders of Michael Thomas‘ unusual 2021, when he delayed a surgery the team viewed as necessary — only to suffer a setback and then miss all of that season. Carr is not certain to undergo surgery, but this issue has surprised some members of the Saints’ staff. His status has naturally hovered over the team entering the draft. Mickey Loomis refused to answer Carr-related questions at his pre-draft presser, but the 12th-year veteran’s availability certainly impacts how the Saints will proceed in the draft. Loomis has avoided trading down in Round 1, but he — as could be expected — did not dismiss the possibility this year.
Carr’s injury is believed to stem from a 2023 AC joint issue that did not heal properly. Carr sustained multiple concussions that year, and he ran into oblique and hand trouble in 2024. The Saints were not believed to have been caught off-guard by Carr’s shoulder trouble, having restructured the vet’s contract — making a 2026 separation more costly. But the team having anticipated more clarity by now is noteworthy, especially as the Saints join other clubs in preparing similar trade-up routes for QBs.
Shedeur Sanders, Jaxson Dart, Tyler Shough and Jalen Milroe have checked in as potential options for this glut of QB-needy teams; all could be gone by Round 2. The Saints have done extensive work on each, as Kellen Moore prepares to take over. Our Ely Allen pegged Dart to go to New Orleans in his mock draft. The Giants are believed to be high on Dart, and the Saints will take a risk if they pass on a QB at 9. Should that happen, the race between this lot of teams eyeing longer-term solutions will be on.