Forget the Paulson Adebo revenge game. The New Orleans Saints versus New York Giants has taken a pivot to being the Jaxson Dart revenge game after the rookie quarterback's comments leading into the game. The only thing that could have made this more intense is if Tyler Shough was starting instead of Spencer Rattler.
Typically revenge games are reserved for players who used to play for the team. That's the box Adebo would check after leaving the Saints in free agency this past offseason. He hasn't shown any public resentment, so let's turn the camera like a Shaq meme to Dart. He does seem to have a personal vendetta of sorts.
The Saints met with Dart before the draft, and clearly Dart felt that was a place where he could land. Earlier this week, the rookie discussed the Saints passing on him in the first round saying “I think that there’s always a chip on your shoulder any time that something like that happens."
Saints picking Tyler Shough had to make Jaxson Dart more frustrated.
Dart is certainly happy in New York, but it sounds like New Orleans was at least one of the places he wanted to land. "I felt like my visit with them went good,” Dart said. “So, you kind of have thoughts in your head during the draft of what options are really realistic, and I definitely felt like that was a place that could have panned out. But things didn’t work out that way.”
Translation: "I liked the Saints and I began to envision myself in the black and gold. I'm disappointed that didn't happen." The opportunity to be a top-10 pick probably wasn't lost on him either.
The Saints obviously needed a quarterback going into the draft. It wasn't a secret to anyone, and eventually, they selected Shough in the second round. Seeing the Saints still pick a quarterback had to make Dart seeing them pass on him sting even more. Watching a battle of rookies would have been an interesting storyline knowing Dart feels this way about falling past New Orleans.
You could say Dart was already off the board by the time the Saints rolled around in the second round. I'd present two counterpoints. I doubt Dart cares about that, and it sounded like Shough was the Saints guy anyway. Dart being available still would have just put that conviction to the test.
There are players who choose their jersey number based on how many players were picked ahead of them at the position. It's not rare to see players motivate themselves based on draft night snubs. For Dart, this should serve as extra motivation in his second career start.