The one player the Saints absolutely need to stay healthy throughout the 2024 season

It may not have looked like it by the way the New Orleans Saints approached the offseason, but 2024 is an all-chips-in kind of season for the franchise. The Saints have been stuck in a purgatory of mediocrity— not good enough to make the postseason, but too good to get a top pick and start over. It now seems like New Orleans will be forced to rebuild if they have yet another mediocre season.

The Saints have been working to avoid that. They didn’t have an aggressive offseason, but the Saints kept their veteran core intact, and made some calculated moves like hiring Klint Kubiak, signing Chase Young, and drafting Taliese Fuaga. All things considered, New Orleans has a chance to be competitive and make the playoffs in the 2024 season.

For that to happen, the Saints will need factors like health to work in their favor. Some teams are built to withstand injuries, but there are some players that teams can’t afford to lose en route to the team’s goals. For New Orleans in 2024, that player is Derek Carr.

Saints can’t afford to have an injured Derek Carr in 2024

Derek Carr is a pretty polarizing quarterback— especially during his time in New Orleans —however, there’s no denying that a healthy Carr gives the Saints the best chance to win. Jake Haener and Spencer Rattler, who are battling for the QB2 spot, could have bright futures in the league. Currently, they are unknowns.

Beyond wins and losses, it’s critical that Carr stays healthy so the Saints can have a complete evaluation of him. Last season, there was a ton of talk about how Carr battled through injury all offseason. New Orleans needs to be able to evaluate a healthy Carr over the span of the season so the franchise can definitively say if they want to move on from Carr or not.

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