The New Orleans Saints are already facing a significant dilemma just weeks before the 2025 NFL Draft.
According to NFL Network, veteran quarterback Derek Carr is working through a shoulder injury that may require surgery to repair.
With a new head coach and coaching staff, the Saints may be without their starting quarterback for the 2025 season.
First-time NFL head coach Kellen Moore, who was the former offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Chargers and Dallas Cowboys, could turn to the draft or a veteran to fill the significant hole.
A player that has been developing in the Detroit Lions system the past two years could be an affordable option for a team that is dealing with salary cap issues.
Hendon Hooker does not have a significant amount of playing time during the regular season, but could be a young, inexpensive player a new coach wants to mold while building up other parts of the roster.
Hooker explained back in 2023, when talking at the combine about the plethora of players from Tennessee ending up with New Orleans, “Yeah, it’d be cool to join them. Cool pipeline. I have communication with every one of those guys (former college teammates who were on the Saints). I had dinner with Alontae Taylor last week. He came out to California. He was working out, so I had dinner with him, he told me about the things he encounters down in New Orleans.”
Former Lions quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was also listed by Sports Illustrated as a potential suitor for the Saints.
“Bridgewater played exactly three snaps for the Lions, stepping in for Jared Goff for a series in the second quarter of Detroit’s 45-31 loss to the Washington Commanders in the divisional round,” Tom Dierberger writes. “That drive ended with a 61-yard touchdown run by Jameson Williams. Bridgewater is already beloved in the Bayou, as he played for the Saints in 2018 and ’19. Why not run it back for one more year?”
The Lions could ask for the Saints fourth-round pick (No. 112) this year in order to part ways with the developing signal-caller.
General manager Brad Holmes could then utilize the additional capital added to package picks to move up back in the second-round to bolster areas of need along the offensive and defensive lines.