Rumors abound regarding the Saints' potential paths with the No. 16 and 19 picks in hand for next week's NFL draft, but if you ask the team's former quarterback, he doesn't see that as the route the team should be taking this season.
With Jameis Winston re-signed, Andy Dalton in the building to serve as the backup and still thinking Taysom Hill should see 10-15 snaps at QB a game, he thinks the Saints are right where they should want to be, Brees said in an interview with NOLA.com's Jeff Duncan.
"I think they're pretty set at quarterback, if you ask me," Brees said. "I think there are probably other positions that you draft and begin to build the foundation of the team with."
And while Brees' head coach in Sean Payton is now on the verge of joining the broadcast field himself, the former QB still knows a good bit about the new scheme. He was teammates with Winston, and was coached by offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael for more than a decade, who was retained in that role on Dennis Allen's new staff. He also played for several years alongside QBs coach Ronald Curry, though he didn't pick up that role until 2021 and after Brees had retired.
"I think [Carmichael] has been ready for that opportunity for a long time," Brees said in the report.
Should the Saints decide to go quarterback, they'll likely have some options to choose from. In what many consider to be a draft light on QB talent, there will likely be some interesting names remaining on the board when they pick at 16, or they could use their two first round selections to move up the board for a player if they so desire. The quarterbacks at the top of the QB draft rankings are Kenny Pickett out of Pitt, Malik Willis out of Liberty, Matt Corral out of Ole Miss, or even Desmond Ridder out of Cincinnati, a player Brees got a good look at as he called the Bearcats' upset of Notre Dame last season and came away impressed.
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However as Brees alluded to, this Saints team has other areas they could improve immediately with a pair of first-round selections if they so choose. There are holes at LT and safety after the departures of Terron Armstead and Marcus Williams in free agency, along with the retirement of veteran Malcolm Jenkins. There is also a standing hole at wide receiver that feels like a must to address, though that could come in the form of a veteran free agent such as Jarvis Landry, who visited New Orleans last week. The same could be said for safety and Tyrann Mathieu, who remains a free agent and visited the Saints earlier in April.
Popular names linked to the Saints include Northern Iowa tackle Trevor Penning, Central Michigan tackle Bernhard Raimann, and a host of WRs including Alabama's Jameson Wiliams, Ohio State's Chris Olave, USC's Drake London and Arkansas' Treylon Burks, essentially whatever name drops in yet another draft field brimming with talent at the position.
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Click here for the full Q&A with Brees.