Saints feel Taysom Hill is their go-to option for when Drew Brees retires

Quite a bit has been made of the Saints signing Tampa Bay’s Jameis Winston. Do they still want Taysom Hill as their backup quarterback?

The short answer is yes. The addition of Winston, even if they view him as a potential solution once Drew Brees’ retires, has not indicated that the Saints don’t want Taysom Hill to be their man after Brees.

If anything, it’s been the opposite. The Saints have extended Hill, and following this season, he’ll transition into one of the highest-paid players on the team. His versatility will give him value even if he isn’t the ideal replacement.

As for now, all we know if that Payton’s position hasn’t changed on Hill. He still loves the gritty, hard-nosed 29-year-old.

The Athletic’s Jay Glazer (subscription required) wrote that the Saints’ interest in Hill as the long-term solution to the quarterback position is no smokescreen. It’s not just for some publicity or to get other teams craving Hill.

It’s real.

They’re going to pay him over $16 million next season.

You don’t toss that offer out there to a player you don’t feel is worthy to captain the team. That means Payton is confident that Hill’s limited snaps as a quarterback will be a non-factor when he steps up to the plate as the team’s main signal-caller.

Although listed as a quarterback, Hill has only thrown 13 passes in his career. That’s not where his value lies with Brees as the starting QB. Hill was arguably the team’s best player in their Wild Card loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

Last season, he 156 rushing yards and 234 receiving yards on a mere 19 receptions. Although it may not seem like a ton, Hill’s blocking, running and receiving were all used at critical points in the season.

This offseason, the Saints added a former first-round pick in Jameis Winston. But, for now, that doesn’t seem to matter as Hill will be their go-to option at quarterback.