Derek Carr entering what will likely be his last season with the New Orleans Saints puts the team in a perfect position to support a young quarterback who needs a year or two to develop. When evaluating quarterback prospects, there’s a gray area between potential Day 1 starters and developmental prospects. That’s where passers who won’t be ready to enter the lineup immediately but project as a future starter reside.
Those prospects tend to get pressed into one of the two aforementioned categories. It’s easier to project a draft range that way. Jaxson Dart fits the mold, and Jalen Milroe does too if you ask The Ringer’s Diante Lee, which is why he sees New Orleans as a great landing spot. Lee also named the Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh Steelers and Las Vegas Raiders as good picks to draft and develop a quarterback for the future. Other than Pittsburgh, maybe, all of those teams would provide Milroe with built-in development time.
Lee’s ideal range for Milroe is the end of Round 2 to beginning of the Round 3, between picks 60 and 80. The Saints have two third-round picks, but only the first one falls in this range.
“He needs a year on the bench to learn the NFL pocket and probably another half a year or so to get his timing and consistency together,” Lee wrote, detailing the quarterback’s professional timeline. Milroe may not have that long but the timing and consistency can come from on field reps.
After the first season, it’ll likely be Milroe versus Spencer Rattler for the starting spot in 2026, unless the Saints go back to the well again in 2026. A third round selection wouldn’t keep them from doing that.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Derek Carr's unclear outlook makes Saints a good fit for Jalen Milroe
