NOLA Saints don’t need to focus on QB position in 2022, per PFF
By Kristen Wong
The New Orleans Saints will rise or fall based on who plays under center in 2022, but one NFL writer doesn’t believe the quarterback position should be considered a top priority.
After rotating through four quarterbacks in 2021, the Saints could definitely use more stability as they rebuild their offensive unit for next season.
Amid speculation that the Saints will try to pick up a veteran quarterback in free agency (Wilson, Garoppolo, Carr), the team could also re-sign Jameis Winston as a much cheaper option.
Having Winston as a potential starter makes the Saints less of a QB-needy team, according to one news outlet.
PFF’s Sam Monson ranked all 32 teams’ need at quarterback for next season, and the Saints didn’t even crack the top half.
NOLA placed 21st overall, ranked just below the Seattle Seahawks and Las Vegas Raiders:
"The Saints are in a tough spot, albeit one entirely of their own design. With Jameis Winston healthy all year, they would have likely made the playoffs and been a dangerous team, even with Winston’s PFF grade (74.2, 19th) falling short of his box score stats before injury."
Monson then goes into Taysom Hill’s deficiencies, stating that Hill lacks “big-play upside” as a quarterback yet continually gets big contracts “for little discernable reason.” Amen to that.
New Orleans Saints isn’t a QB-needy team relative to other clubs in 2022
Monson’s picks for the most QB-needy teams in the league make enough sense: he has Denver, Pittsburgh, Carolina, and Washington as the clubs that should go all in on a quarterback this season.
But some of his other picks are a bit of a head scratcher. He has a sub-category called “Explore he options” which includes Miami, Atlanta, and Cleveland, among others, and we think NOLA could reasonably fit in there, too.
Winston has played only seven games in the black and gold, and he’ll be coming off a serious injury in 2022. Given the little they’ve seen of him, the Saints’ expectations for Winston shouldn’t be that high, nor should Winston be categorized with the likes of Russell Wilson and Derek Carr, both of whom are much more seasoned signal-callers.
In all likelihood, come offseason NOLA will be exploring a few different QB options which depend on a plethora of factors: Will Winston remain affordable if other teams try to poach him? If a high-profile QB like Wilson picks NOLA as his next destination, can the team fit him into the salary cap?
Monson writes off the Saints’ quarterback issues like they’re nothing — re-sign Winston in 2022, and NOLA automatically becomes a playoff contender.
Even in a land of rainbows and unicorns, that prognosis sounds much too optimistic.
Nothing at all feels certain about the Saints’ QB position right now.
Next. 4 New Orleans Saints players we’d like to have seen more from in 2021. dark
While finding a starting quarterback may not be NOLA’s absolute No. 1 priority, it should still be up there.