The New Orleans Saints are still searching for answers at quarterback. Maybe second-round pick Tyler Shough is that answer... maybe he's not! Shough was the butt of many draft night jokes thanks to one less-than-flattering clip of him at the combine, but I tend to trust NFL front offices more than pundits on the internet. So who knows?
Alas, the Saints shouldn't assume that Shough will be the guy, and they definitely shouldn't assume that Spencer Rattler is the guy behind the guy — AKA, QB2 in Week 1. So quarterback hunting should still be in the cards for New Orleans, and Detroit Lions backup quarterback Hendon Hooker should be on the list of players to watch.
Hooker is off to a "good start" in training camp, according to Lions QB coach Mark Brunell, but that he hasn't locked down the backup job yet. With a cloudy future in Detroit, it makes an awful lot of sense for a team like New Orleans, which has zero answers at QB after Derek Carr's retirement, to take a flyer on a once-heralded prospect.
Lions QBs coach Mark Brunell says the No. 2 QB job is open. Says Hendon Hooker is off to a good start.
— Colton Pouncy (@colton_pouncy) May 13, 2025
Hendon Hooker likely isn't the Saints answer, but could be worth a shot
The former Virginia Tech and Tennessee quarterback hasn't gotten a chance in the NFL at all yet, so it's hard to tell what exactly the 2023 third-round pick is capable of as a pro signal-caller.
Hooker won SEC offensive Player of the Year in 2022, then missed all of 2023 with a torn ACL, was on the PUP list his rookie year with Detroit, and finally made his (breif) NFL debut last season for the Lions.
Hooker is 27 and probably won't light the world on fire if he gets a chance in New Orleans; but he, at the very least, deserves to compete somewhere. He was the No. 5-ranked QB prospect in the 2023 NFL Draft by ESPN and was viewed as a potential franchise guy before the ACL tear.
New Orleans has no clear path forward at quarterback right now, and Detroit has no need for Hooker on the roster. Why not make a swap?