The New Orleans Saints have four quarterbacks on the roster even after the stunning retirement of Derek Carr, but they have a combined three years of NFL experience between them.
That group includes recent draft picks in Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener, new 2nd round pick Tyler Shough and UDFA Hunter Dekkers who was signed after a rookie minicamp tryout. As the legend Drew Brees looks at it, he still sees a veteran QB as a major need, as he broke down on WWL Radio this week.
"I think that would be wise [to add a veteran] and I’m sure that’s being considered," Brees said. "I don’t know if that answer is there now, or if it’s something that I’m sure as training camp goes along and as preseason goes along you begin to see some scenarios where all of a sudden there’s a veteran guy that you could pluck."
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But why? For Brees the veterans he remembers are Doug Flutie and Mark Brunell, players he was quick to lean on early in his pro career, which got off to a bit of a rocky start as a second round pick of the Chargers.
Whether that player is brought in to start or be a supportive presence, the value is clear.
"If I was kind of building the formula for a young quarterback to be successful, I think as you look at history, having a veteran guy who can help bring you along is vital."
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At this point that's not the case, and as Kellen Moore stated this week it'll be a three-man quarterback battle between Shough, Rattler and Haener. Brees believes it'll be a true competition, even with Shough representing the lone player who was drafted by the current coaching regime. That group includes four former NFL quarterbacks in Moore, OC Doug Nussmeier, QBs coach Scott Tolzien and offensive assistant Scott Linehan.
"I expect this to be a heated QB competition throughout the preseason and offseason here, and then let's see how this thing plays out," Brees said.
More from Drew
On QB Derek Carr's retirement
“I’m sure there was a lot that went into that decision, and I haven’t had a chance to actually speak with Derek about it other than just to send him a couple of text messages here over the last few weeks, just giving him some support and some, you know, supportive words as I know he’s going through this injury and trying to navigate what that means as far as even his ability to play this year, it seems like that was kind of the big concern for him was how serious is the injury to the throwing arm and was it gonna prevent him from playing this year.
"I think it’s a little bit of maybe you can draw on the Andrew Luck situation from a few years ago where here was a guy who actually had to miss an entire season due to injury and then it seemed like he was kind of going into another offseason where it looked like that was imminent and I think there’s definitely a level of frustration that goes into that, when you work so hard for something and yet, you know, your body is letting you down in some way, you know, so I’m sure there was a lot that went into that decision with Derek."
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On Tyler Shough/young QBs having success
“First off, it’s never easy. Nothing about the NFL game, playing the quarterback position is easy. You know, there have been guys who have come in as rookies and played very, very well, probably showing some maturity beyond their years and been very productive, and yet I would say that’s definitely the exception, not the rule. I think in just about every case it really benefits a rookie quarterback to sit behind a veteran guy for at least a period of time to learn the speed of the game, to begin to have an understanding and a comfort level with the offense and just the way that you have to lead a team, the way that you have to manage the huddle, the way that you have to play situational football.
"All those things, they come with time and they come with experience and there’s really no way to fast track that other than guys just getting experience, and so naturally if you’re thrown in there as a young player, look, you’re gonna make mistakes. You’re gonna make those ‘rookie mistakes,’ right, and that just comes with the territory, but now, you know, take a coach like Kellen Moore and the support staff that he has, a lot of guys that have played the quarterback position at the NFL level, coached for a long time. Look, he’s got as good a group as you would ever want to be coaching you and a great system, but you know, naturally you still are gonna have those growing pains and I think that’s just something that everybody has to accept.”