The New Orleans Saints’ quarterback room is looking pretty bare.
After veteran quarterback Derek Carr decided to call it a career earlier this weekend, the Saints are left thin at the most important position in football. Now, it’s unlikely Carr would’ve been available for much of the upcoming season anyway as he was battling back from a shoulder injury. But still, a veteran presence in the quarterback room can prove valuable, even if they aren’t playing.
Now, the Saints have three quarterbacks rostered with very little, if any, NFL experience: rookie quarterback and recent second-round pick Tyler Shough, second-year quarterback Spencer Rattler, who sports an 0-6 record in six starts, and Jake Haener, who has 38 total passing attempts in his career.
The inexperience in New Orleans’ quarterback room has made many an NFL pundit connect some obvious dots. There’s one high-profile quarterback still seemingly available, 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers.
Robert Griffin III is among those that think the Saints should give the Super Bowl-winning quarterback a call. In fact, he doesn’t just think it. RGIII is imploring the Saints to do so.
“The New Orleans Saints, Kellen Moore, Mickey Loomis, they need to call Aaron Rodgers,” Griffin said on his Outta Pocket podcast. Not for Mickey Loomis, not for Kellen Moore. But they need to call Aaron Rodgers for Alvin Kamara. They need to call Aaron Rodgers for Demario Davis. They need to call Aaron Rodgers for Cam Jordan. They need to call Aaron Rodgers for Brandin Cooks. They need to call Aaron Rodgers for Justin Reed. They need to call Aaron Rodgers for the honeybadger himself, Tyrann Mathieu.
“The reason I say that is because those veterans don’t have time to go through a rebuild. They don’t have much time left on their clock when it comes to NFL years. So if you’re going to call a guy that you know can get the job done, that you know will instill confidence into that locker room, Aaron Rodgers.”
When you put it like that, the Saints do have a lot of veterans that would, in a sense, be “wasting” a season as the team tries to figure out its quarterback situation. But there are a couple of issues to take with Griffin’s logic.
For one, the Saints could have a lot of faith in Shough, who has yet to take a snap in the NFL. The front office could have also already determined that the 2025-26 season is a lost cause, and they’re going to prepare for the future. In this scenario, it’s not really worth going out and signing Rodgers as the snaps could be better used seeing what they already have at quarterback.
It’s an unfortunate situation for veterans like Kamara or Davis or Jordan, but it’s a situation that happens all over the league every year. And the franchise shouldn’t jeopardize its future just because some of its best players might have one disappointing season.