This emergency Raiders-Saints trade would give Spencer Rattler an actual chance

The New Orleans Saints fell to 2-6 with a depressing loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. I'm old enough to remember when Klint Kubiak was being propped up as the NFL's next great offensive genius after Week 2. Now the Saints' offense is a point of great scrutiny as their season spirals down the drain.

We can't blame everything on Kubiak. The Saints have been playing without Derek Carr since Week 6, so that inherently kneecaps the offense. In Carr's stead, rookie Spencer Rattler has been called upon to lead the Saints' passing attack. There was plenty of optimism in Rattler as a fifth-round pick in April's NFL Draft, but he wasn't supposed to take the reins this soon.

Rattler's third start went sour. After completing 12-of-24 passes for 155 yards, Rattler was benched in favor of Jake Haener in the third quarter. Shockingly, that didn't help much. The Saints' offensive issues go much deeper than the QB position, but relying on such youth and inexperience does amplify New Orleans' shortcomings on that end.

The hope is that Carr is back sooner than later, but it would appear for now that Haener has officially surpassed Rattler on the Saints' QB depth chart. It's too early to panic — hold your Rattler stock if you purchased some at South Carolina — but the Saints could be tempted to make a hard-line decision ahead of the Nov. 5 trade deadline.

This Saints-Raiders trade centered on Spencer Rattler could benefit all involved

Most teams don't roster three quarterbacks on the roster. Once Carr is back, he immediately resumes QB1 duties, whether the Saints are in contention or not. Haener, a fourth-round pick in the 2023 draft, was technically selected higher than Rattler. If the Saints prop him up as Carr's backup, Rattler's path to relevancy in New Orleans is largely obscured.

That brings us to the Las Vegas Raiders, who have their own QB controversies to sort out. Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell are engaged in a competition to see which quarterback can best embody the concept of mediocrity. As such, there could be a mutually beneficial trade for all parties.

The Saints turn their fifth-round pick into a fourth-round pick. The Raiders get a talented young quarterback with room to develop him into a potential starting option. Meanwhile, Rattler gets to exit Derek Carr's shadow and truly flourish in an open QB competition.

Rattler was once a five-star recruit with first-round NFL aspirations, but a complicated college career left him as QB7 in a loaded draft. The 24-year-old has real arm talent and the athleticism to extend plays outside the pocket, but his decision-making has been a constant uphill battle in his first handful of NFL starts. That is normal. Most rookies need time to adjust. The Saints, however, can feel the NFC South slipping away.

The Raiders already know their fate in the AFC West. That is not a contender, not with that QB room. Rattler's ceiling probably outstrips that of O'Connell and he's a more worthwhile project than Minshew, who is a known commodity. Odds are Rattler would get his chance to start in Las Vegas before the season ends, even if it's only so Las Vegas understands all its options ahead of the 2025 offseason.

New Orleans, meanwhile, restocks on draft capital and plants Jake Haener behind Derek Carr, which is a perfectly adequate setup. The Saints aren't going to lose faith in Rattler after one bad half, but all the same, Haener's presence does mean a decision needs to be made eventually.