Kellen Moore is barely two months into his tenure as head coach of the New Orleans Saints, and he’s already dealing with a major issue at the team’s most important position.
Starting quarterback Derek Carr is reportedly struggling with a shoulder injury that could jeopardize his 2025 season, and the team’s stable of signal callers in reserve — Spencer Rattler, Jake Haener and Ben DiNucci — leaves much to be desired.
New Orleans could be forced to either explore a trade for Carr’s replacement, or commit serious draft capital to land one of the top prospects in the 2025 class.
If the team considers a trade, Glenn Erby of USA TODAY’s Eagles Wire predicts Tanner McKee, Philadelphia’s current No. 2 quarterback behind starter Jalen Hurts, would be the perfect target:
The Saints hold the ninth pick in this month’s NFL draft and have four quarterbacks: Carr, Haener, Rattler, and Ben DiNucci. None of the three potential replacements is better than McKee, and the former sixth-round pick would cost just $1,076,630 in salary cap space.
McKee does make a ton of sense for the Saints, given his history working with Moore during the 2024 season and his cheap rookie contract. The former sixth-round pick out of Stanford is about to turn 25 and won’t be a free agent until 2027.
At 6-foot-6, 231 pounds, McKee has ideal size for the position and seemed to click in Moore’s offense when given the chance last season. In a short sample size, he completed 30 of his 45 pass attempts for 323 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions and a QB rating of 117.2.
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McKee is hardly a proven commodity at this point, as he served as Philly’s third-string QB last year. But he outperformed former first-round pick Kenny Pickett in training camp and has earned a chance to be at least an NFL backup in 2025.
The Eagles clearly love McKee, as they traded Pickett to Cleveland this offseason, but turning late-round quarterback fliers into significant trade pieces is how savvy executives do business in the NFL. GM Howie Roseman is definitely one of those exexutives.
The Saints hold the No. 9 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and will have a number of options available to them, including moving up into the top-five to land their quarterback of the future.
But if Moore’s not in love with prospects like Shedeur Sanders, Jaxson Dart and Tyler Shough, New Orleans could easily justify parting with a third-round pick for McKee, with an eye on giving him a chance to be the starter this season if Carr remains sidelined.
MORE: NFL Draft prospects 2025: Updated big board of top 200 players overall, ranked by position
