Saints: 3 dark horse replacements for Drew Brees

We covered draft and free agency options, so let’s go for the trade candidate. If there’s one quarterback that will get some attention on the trading block (not named Deshaun Watson), it’s Sam Darnold of the New York Jets.

This season, the Jets failed to win the Trevor Lawrence sweepstake after their two wins over the Los Angeles Rams and Cleveland Browns, dropping them to second on the draft board. This past week, the Jets hired former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh to be their new head coach. According to a recent report from ESPN’s Rich Cimini, Saleh and incoming offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur see “untapped potential” in Darnold. This could be legitimate, or we have another Josh Rosen-Kliff Kingsbury moment brewing where Darnold gets shipped off in favor of a rookie signal caller. If it’s the latter, then the Saints should be among the first to call the Jets for Darnold.

When looking at Darnold’s statistics, they’re very underwhelming. But, you have to take into consideration that he dealt with injuries, a lackluster receiving corps, a turnstile of an offensive line and two years of learning under supposed offensive guru Adam Gase, who failed to live up to his moniker.

At this stage of the game, Darnold could really use a change of scenery. The Jets, like any other team, would prefer to trade him out-of-conference. The Saints fit the bill and have all the resources Darnold needs to turn his career around.