My 15-month-old son loves to say "uh oh." He doesn't really pay attention to the NFL in the offseason — though he sure loved watching on Sundays during the season — but if he did, he'd look at the New Orleans Saints right now and say "uh oh!"
That's because the Saints — already a team whose quarterback situation felt iffy — might be without Derek Carr this season after reports came out on Friday that Carr is dealing with a shoulder injury that puts his availability for the 2025 season in question.
The best thing that could happen to the Saints now is that Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders falls to the team at Pick 9 in the NFL Draft, but there's no guarantee that happens. So, what are the options for the Saints if Carr is out for 2025 and Sanders is taken by the Giants (or a team that trades up for him)?
Here are four potential replacement options for Derek Carr next season.
Jaxson Dart
Drafting Jaxson Dart with the No. 9 pick is probably a reach, but I don't think it's necessarily a franchise-killing reach.
Dart has really separated himself from the rest of the pack as the No. 3 quarterback option in this class and you can find some people who'll argue that he's a better prospect than Sanders is. Personally, I'm not there, but the gap isn't huge.
The Ole Miss product has a good arm and moves well both in and out of the pocket. He'll have to learn to play in a pro-style offense while improving his consistency, but Dart could easily be an above-average NFL starter. It's hard to imagine him being elite, but you can probably win with him — if the right pieces are around him.
Jalen Milroe
The Saints could opt to wait until Day 2 to go after a quarterback. There are a number of options available then, but the highest upside move that New Orleans could make would be to draft Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe.
Milroe is no guarantee. He's the best athlete of any quarterback in this class but carries with him major concerns about his accuracy. It would be a huge boost to his chances of success if Carr was around to help mentor him even while injured.
Would throwing Milroe to the wolves immediately be the best move for New Orleans? Honestly, no. Starting Milroe as a rookie has a chance to be an absolute disaster.
But in a class where there really aren't any sure things at quarterback, using something like Pick 71 on Milroe is a low-risk, high-reward move. If he's bad, the Saints can just go draft someone next year.
Carson Wentz
The timing of this Carr news couldn't have been worse, because it came out right after the best available veteran free agent, Joe Flacco, signed with the Browns.
Now, maybe the Saints knew about the Carr injury already and chose not to go after Flacco, and if that's the case, fine. It's just a shame because Flacco was probably the best chance New Orleans had to bring in a journeyman who could start and not have the team bottom out.
But there is one name out there who might be useful: Carson Wentz.
Wentz's last started a full season in 2021 for the Colts and honestly, he was fine, throwing for over 3,500 yards with 27 touchdown passes to just seven interceptions. He then went to Washington, where he definitely took a step back but still looked serviceable before a fractured finger ended his tenure as the Commanders starting quarterback. He spent the last two seasons as a backup for the Rams and Chiefs.
Sure, there are plenty of concerns when it comes to Wentz. He's had turnover issues in the past. He's had injury concerns. But if New Orleans just needs a veteran body under center who knows how to be an NFL quarterback, Wentz is the best option left out there.
(Okay, technically the best option is probably Aaron Rodgers, but like...c'mon, let's be serious here.)
Spencer Rattler
Could the Saints just sit back and see what Spencer Rattler can do?
The team's fifth-round pick in 2024, Rattler was once viewed as a top NFL prospect before his college development stalled out. He started six games for the Saints last season, with the team going 0-6 in those starts.
So, look: the sample size we got in 2024 was bad. Rattler threw four touchdowns and five interceptions and completed just 57.0% of his pass attempts.
But that was also a fifth-round rookie who probably wasn't expecting to be thrown into the fire. With another offseason under his belt, things could be different. I mean...I wouldn't count on them being different, but desperation has a way of making a team make some decisions that don't seem good on the surface and sometimes — rarely, but sometimes — those decisions work out.