Saints Could Benefit If Browns Decide To Cut Former Super Bowl Champion QB

For the New Orleans Saints, uncertainty reigns supreme at the quarterback position.

After Derek Carr's retirement, rookie Tyler Shough appears set to become the starter in 2025. And while most rookies have experience beside them on NFL depth charts, the Saints' other two options (Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener) have a combined seven career starts.

Certainly, if a veteran becomes available that the Saints believe can help, they'd be justified in adding him to the roster. But they're also not in a place as an organization to be trading away future draft picks.

That's why it could make sense for the Saints to wait until the preseason, when teams start making roster cuts. One NFL writer believes the Cleveland Browns might let go of a signal-caller who defines the term "veteran" to a T.

On Tuesday, Bleacher Report's Alex Kay named Browns 40-year-old QB Joe Flacco, a former Super Bowl champion and 17-year NFL veteran, as a potential cut candidate between now and Week 1.

"(The Browns') positional competition has morphed into a four-way battle featuring a pair of rookies in Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, two intriguing young talents who may not only push Flacco way down the depth chart but also off the roster," Kay wrote.

"Unless the Browns want to carry four healthy quarterbacks into the regular season, it’s likely one will be sent packing before Week 1. If Flacco doesn’t win the competition—which is possible given he’s the co-favorite alongside Pickett for the distinction—it makes little sense to allocate a coveted roster spot to a 40-year-old backup with zero upside remaining in his career."

If Flacco becomes available for virtually nothing, the Saints should be all over him. He has 191 NFL starts under his belt, and he's still playing well enough to be a fringe starter this late in his career. In eight games last season, he had a 65.3 percent completion rate and 12 touchdowns to seven interceptions.

It would be a lot riskier for the Saints to try and trade for Flacco, but there's no reason to not bring him in as an upgrade over Rattler and Haener.

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