Look at the New Orleans Saints. Take a really good look. Because they are a team that now has a huge say in the 2025 NFL draft.
Then again, they often do, because the team is often bad. The franchise is no stranger to picking high in the draft. They are doing it again this season as New Orleans has the ninth overall pick. So in some ways it's true that they already had a huge say because the team picks in the top 10.
But they may have even greater power in the draft now. Because quarterback Derek Carr, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, has a significant shoulder injury. Rapoport says the injury "threatens Carr's availability for this season."
What does this mean? It means the Saints are in an excellent position. They may be in the best position of all the teams in the draft except the Tennessee Titans, who pick first. (I'll explain why in a second. Be patient.) In some ways, Carr's injury may significantly impact the top half of the draft.
This is why.
Carr's long-term viability was an issue even before the reported injury situation. With all due respect, he's also not very good. The Saints were likely looking for a solution at the position in this year's draft. There's been a large amount of speculation that if Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders was available at nine, the Saints would take him. Makes a ton of sense.
That scenario becomes more pertinent now.
Even if Carr's injury turns out to not be as serious as the reporting suggests, the Saints are still likely to go after a quarterback at the ninth spot. They can't trust that Carr will stay healthy. Maybe New Orleans goes after Sanders. Maybe they grasp for Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart. The latter move would be a magnificent reach and stupendously ridiculous, and while the Saints have been stupendously ridiculous before, that would be bonkers even for them.
Again, some of these scenarios were true before the Carr news broke. It's just that now all of these various scenarios have gotten spicier.
Could the Saints take a non-quarterback at nine and then draft Dart in a later round? They could but there's no question who is the better quarterback of the two and it's Sanders. If the Saints can get him, logic dictates they should.
The Saints could try to wrench Kirk Cousins from the Atlanta Falcons but even if they did, the team would still need a quarterback of the future. Plus, did you see Cousins play last season? He looked like Derek Carr.
Or, perhaps more likely, the Saints make a run at free agent Aaron Rodgers. He's better than the law firm of Cousins & Carr but he's still a ...
