The New Orleans Saints won't have Jameis Winston for the remainder of the 2021 season after the starting quarterback suffered a torn ACL in Sunday's win. Winston was having a good season for the Saints -- his first as the team's starting quarterback.
Winston's touchdown to interception ratio was by far the highest of his career at 4.7. He completed just 59% of his passes, but threw for 14 touchdowns to just three interceptions for a 102.8 passer rating. Winston's touchdown percentage of 8.7 was also first in the NFL, as he became the reliable quarterback head coach Sean Payton envisioned when he named Winston the starter back in August.
"We definitely were encouraged," Payton said earlier this week. "We felt like we saw the arm strength, the leadership, all of those things. Remember, the thing we talked about all the time is that they'll evaluate you by your record. He was 4-2 and it wasn't always perfect, but absolutely. He's someone who had become a vital part of what we were doing."
The Saints don't appear to be looking at any outside quarterback options with Winston out, with Payton dismissing the notion by saying "we're satisfied with our quarterback room." While its too late to bring in an outside option this week to start, there are still 10 games left on the Saints schedule. The Saints are 5-2 and in prime position to make the playoffs too, which is why all options need to be considered -- no matter how well the internal options fare in Payton's system.
What will New Orleans do at quarterback going forward? Let's take a glance at Payton's options and what he should do in the days and weeks ahead.
All things considered, Hill is the most likely option to be the starting quarterback for the Saints going forward. The Saints do have Hill signed to a $7.259 million contract to be on the roster -- and Hill was the starting quarterback last season when Drew Brees went down with a rib injury.
Payton knows what he has regarding Hill based on the sample size in the four games he started last season. Hill completed 71.9% of his passes for 834 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions while rushing 39 times for 209 yards (5.36 yards per carry) with four touchdowns in those four games. Hill recorded a 96.9 passer rating in his four starts as the Saints went 3-1 during that stretch.
Expect the Saints to use the same offensive philosophy they did last season with Hill -- be heavy on the run and use Hill's ball-carrying ability as an added dimension to the offense. They have the personnel to accomplish this with Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram in the backfield, the 1-2 punch New Orleans wanted when the Saints acquired Ingram last week.
Hill is expected to clear concussion protocol this week. He's the short-team answer for the Saints -- and has the opportunity to extend his stay as the starter.
Payton could be pressed to go with Siemian based on how he performed in Sunday's win. With Hill out, Siemian was the No. 2 quarterback and played in his first NFL game since 2019 once Winston was lost with the injury. Siemian played admirably, completing 16 of 29 passes for 159 yards with a touchdown and zero interceptions.
Payton showcased his confidence in Siemian throughout the game, going for it on fourth down twice on the team's opening drive in the third quarter -- converting both (which led to a touchdown). This is significant since Siemian had thrown just six passes in a game since the start of the 2019 season prior to Sunday.
Siemian has been in Payton's system for nearly a year, and has started 25 games in the NFL. This isn't his first rodeo in the league and Payton certainly has a liking to him. Payton compared Siemian to Ty Detmer, who he was the quarterbacks coach for in 1997 with the Philadelphia Eagles -- his first coaching job.
"He's one of those guys who is pretty calm," Payton said. "He's never (flustered). It's a good trait for him. It was not perfect. There were a number of things that we are going to be able to coach off of the tape on. I thought we played with energy, and that was a big concern of mine coming off of the Monday night west coast trip. I thought we played with a lot of energy."
If Siemian starts for a few games, it would be hard to fault Payton. As the long-term answer for this season, that's debatable.
Hard to count out the possibility of Rivers being the starting quarterback of the Saints a month from now. Rivers, whose high school season just ended (first year as a head coach), said he would listen to the Saints if they were to give him a call.
"Like I told you guys six or eight weeks ago, I'm going to stay somewhat ready in case the perfect storm hits," Rivers said to Mark Heim on WNSP-FM 105.5 Tuesday. "There's been no dialogue, but you can't shut the door on anything. Although I still stick by it's a super, super slim chance. It's got to be the right situation for our family."
The Saints would be the perfect opportunity for Rivers to make another run at a Super Bowl, especially since the Saints have a strong running game with Kamara and Ingram along with a defense that generates turnovers and puts pressure on the opposing quarterback. All Rivers would have to be is a game manager, one who has thrown for for 63,440 yards and 421 touchdowns in his 17-year career -- ranking fifth all-time in both categories.
Rivers just retired last season, and the 38-year-old quarterback played well in his only year with the Indianapolis Colts. He completed 68% of his passes for 4,169 yards with 24 touchdowns to 11 interceptions (97.0 rating), leading the Colts to the playoffs with an 11-5 record -- and played well in that postseason loss on the road in Buffalo.
If the Saints were to sign Rivers, it would take him until Thanksgiving to get ready to start -- but he would be ready for the stretch run of the season in December and January. Rivers would be the long-term answer for New Orleans, who are contenders in a loaded NFC. He may be the quarterback they need for a deep playoff run.
Drew BreesDon't bank on Brees coming out of retirement for another shot at a Super Bowl. The future Hall of Fame quarterback and current NBC analyst said he'll be calling the Notre-Dame-Navy game Saturday and will be in the studio Sunday, fulfilling his obligations with the network. As for the next week and future weeks? Don't count on it.
Brees suffered plenty of injuries in his final season in New Orleans, which led to his retirement in the first place. Brees' wife, Brittany, revealed in an Instagram post this offseason all the injuries her husband suffered in 2020. According to Brittany Brees, Drew Brees had a torn rotator cuff, torn fascia, a collapsed lung, and 11 broken ribs.
"I only really felt good in one game, from the perspective of, I had all the tools in my toolbox," Brees said in April. "I had a lot of limitations
