Saints: Trevor Siemian might make sense as the backup quarterback

The main storyline surrounding the New Orleans Saints has been who will be their starting quarterback when the 2021 season kicks off. The team currently has four quarterbacks on the roster and the two getting most of the publicity are Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill. This is obviously because these two are battling for the starting job.

The other two quarterbacks on the roster are fourth-round rookie Ian Book and NFL journeyman Trevor Siemian, neither of whom are getting discussed much because Book is a rookie who probably won’t see the field much at all, and Siemian is in danger of getting cut.

Siemian was listed as ESPN’s Saints player who is on the roster bubble but even with him being the choice, Mike Triplett brought up a good point, which was that Siemian could maneuver his way into a backup role.

"Siemian, 29, quietly has 13 career wins, and Sean Payton has talked him up a couple times this offseason. Although he isn’t likely to push Jameis Winston or Taysom Hill for the starting job, he could stick around if New Orleans wants to keep using Hill in a versatile role and doesn’t think rookie Ian Book is ready to be the No. 2. — Mike Triplett"

This honestly makes sense for the Saints and while they could shed some payroll by releasing Siemian, this is a guy who has backup experience and could be a nice option behind Winston should the former No. 1 overall pick win the starting job.

Trevor Siemian makes sense as the Saints’ backup quarterback.

It’s seemed to be a foregone conclusion that whoever loses the starting quarterback job will automatically be the backup, but maybe New Orleans can go in a different direction. If Winston wins the job, Hill’s best role would be continuing to serve as a Swiss army knife rather than filling the traditional backup quarterback role of holding an iPad (or whatever NFL teams use) on the sideline.

Siemian would be better suited for the backup role in this case and even if Winston were to get injured, he could continue to serve as the backup while Hill stepped in as the starter. Siemian is used to not being the QB1 since entering the league in 2015 and as Triplett mentioned above, he has 13 career wins under his belt.

This probably isn’t the route the Saints are going to take and that’s understandable but at the same time, it’s hard to deny that Siemian backing up Winston makes the Saints offense better, as it’d allow for Hill to be that offensive weapon that has made him so feared in the league.