The New Orleans Saints felt the best way to address their dire need for a quarterback was to sign Donovan Peoples-Jones. Who cares who's going to throw it to him, right?
Derek Carr once again made himself the main character of the offseason, abruptly announcing his retirement, leaving the Saints in an even worse position at quarterback than when Carr was rostered with an injury.
The Saints drafted Tyler Shough, but he wasn't one of the top quarterback prospects at the end of the season and only gained traction during the NFL scouting combine. The problem is, a quarterback room with Shough and Spencer Rattler isn't ideal for first-year coach Kellen Moore. He may have to turn back the clock and suit up himself.
New Orleans picking up a receiver — an average one at that — is a sign they either have a trade in mind or want to add more weapons hoping that covers up their massive quarterback vacancy. Peoples-Jones last played with the Detroit Lions in 2023.
Peoples-Jones didn't play at all last year and the Cleveland Browns, who drafted him in 2020, traded him to the Lions in 2023. He hasn't had a 1,000-yard receiving season yet and his best season was 2022 when he had 839 yards and three touchdown catches.
Saints sign Donovan Peoples-Jones while having no answers at QB
This was a shocking move for a couple of reasons. The Saints adding a receiver doesn't really make sense right now considering they have questions on who's going to throw the ball. Either they don't care about who's throwing the ball to their receivers or they believe in who they already have.
For what it's worth, the Saints did draft Shough in the second round. I guess if you take a quarterback that early, you have every intention of using them in some capacity. This is the perfect opportunity to prove to the rest of the NFL why they took a gamble on Shough.
They probably drafted Shough, knowing they weren't going to have Carr as an option. It's only a matter of time before Rattler plays himself out of the starting position, which would be the perfect chance for him to play.
Last season, Rattler was 0-7 in all seven of his starts. He had just three games with over 200 passing yards. He also didn't have a single game with multiple touchdown passes. It was an odd rookie season for him. For now, he's probably the projected starter in light of Carr's retirement.
But Shough will have a chance to take that from him. The Saints not making any rash decisions in the immediate aftermath of Carr's retirement. That means they have at least some idea of what they want to do. They're either making some calls behind the scenes or they're banking on Rattler or Shough to breakout in 2025.