New Orleans enters draft week with major questions at quarterback.
The Saints' starter for the last two seasons, Derek Carr, might be unavailable for the upcoming campaign due to a shoulder injury. With the No. 9 overall pick at its disposal and an aging, injured QB at the helm, New Orleans is considered a top landing spot for a first-round signal-caller.
Ahead of Thursday's opening round of the 2025 NFL Draft, Saints general manager Mickey Loomis shed some light on the plans under center but mostly held things close to the vest.
"He does have an issue with his shoulder," Loomis said Wednesday, confirming NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport's report from earlier this month. "We're hoping to get some resolution and clarity on that in the near future, and when we do, I'll report back to you. Otherwise, I don't have any more to state about Derek."
Rapoport reported on April 11 that Carr is weighing his options, including surgery, and that his decision could affect his availability for the 2025 season. If Carr is to miss time, the Saints would have to move forward with Jake Haener and Spencer Rattler under center, barring a veteran addition or the arrival of a draft pick.
Loomis avoided most probing questions about the nature of Carr's injury but clarified that the QB's murky situation doesn't affect New Orleans' draft plans.
"I don't think the draft approach for us is any different than it would be in any year," the longtime Saints GM said. "We're looking for as many good players, great players as we can find. We're fortunate enough this year to have multiple picks in the first four rounds, and we're excited about that because I think there's some depth in this draft that will be able to help our roster."
The Saints own one first-round selection (No. 9), four picks in the first two days (40, 71, 93) and nine overall (112, 131, 184, 248). In many mock drafts, the Saints are a landing spot for Shedeur Sanders, by most accounts the No. 2 QB in the draft, or Jaxson Dart. Whether Loomis considers Sanders or Dart worthy of a top 10 selection, given Carr's predicament, remains to be seen.
"If we're picking in the top 10, we're looking for somebody that, man, we're gonna count on this guy for the next eight to 10 years and he's gonna fill that spot and we're not gonna have to worry about it," Loomis said. "For me, that's a goal. Sometimes that might be a home run, a perennial Pro Bowl player, but sometimes it might be a guy that just … we can sleep at night because we've got that position covered for the next eight to 10 years."
Often contenders, the Saints have not picked inside the top 10 since 2008 when Loomis and Co. grabbed defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis at No. 7. Ellis lasted just five seasons in New Orleans and the league, totaling 12.5 sacks in 70 games played. He never made a Pro Bowl.
The draft is an inexact science. Scouting quarterbacks, even more so. With a lack of clarity at the game's most important position, Loomis isn't letting on as to whether signal-caller is top of mind just one day out from a critical first round.
"I think there's guys that are good quarterbacks, really good quarterbacks," the Saints GM told reporters. "I don't know that the quantity is the same that it is some other years, but that goes up and down.
"One thing about that position: I think you fall in love with somebody. [For] each of our teams, I think that's a different guy."
