The New Orleans Saints 2020 season came to an end Sunday evening in a Divisional round playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It also might have marked the end of Drew Brees’ career after a pre-game Jay Glazer report that Brees will retire following this season.
If that is what comes to pass, this marks a seismic change for the Saints organization. Brees spent 15 seasons with the Saints and was the cornerstone of the franchise. The team has to figure out its quarterback situation given they remain otherwise sufficiently talented to compete for the playoffs.
Heading into the 2021 league year, Taysom Hill is signed through this coming season, Jameis Winston is a free agent, and practice squad QB Trevor Siemian is a free agent. Hill signed a two-year deal last year and is due $10,720,000 in base salary and a $1,439,000 roster bonus, with a cap hit of $16,159,000.
Hill took over as the starter when Brees got hurt earlier this year. He had some solid moments, but it was not exactly enough to say he would be able to sufficiently replace Brees. The Saints are looking to bring back Winston as well, which would open the door for competition in training camp.
The 2021 NFL Draft features a host of quarterback options, so it is also possible we see the Saints make an aggressive move to find competition at the QB position. They’ll be picking No. 28 in the draft, so either they look at a Kyle Trask type there, or wait further down for a sleeper option.
This is a huge question for the Saints and it is not one that will be answered easily in short order.