Could This Current Falcons Quarterback Join the Saints?

After about a month following the NFL Draft and the answer to Derek Carr’s future with the Saints, we now have a team roster of quarterbacks consisting of newly drafted 25-year-old Tyler Shough, backups carried over from the previous season in  24-year-old Spencer Rattler and 26-year-old Jack Haener, and 23-year old Hunter Dekkers being signed after his performance at a rookie minicamp. For those Saints fans who are keeping track, that’s four QBs, all under the age of 27 years old, and only 15 NFL games played among them. The coaching staff’s goal is to bring in young and inexperienced players who can be molded by the team into how it’s done in New Orleans and perhaps remain for several years. Keeping the backups from the previous season gives the team a “connection” to their past and the two gentlemen a chance to boost their confidence so they don’t regard themselves as simply “filling in” because the starter is injured. Although these decisions can have long-term effects, the concern that is likely on the minds of fans is balancing out youth and inexperience with age and a large amount of time playing on the field.

The speculation on quarterbacks in the NFC South is now on Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons. The four-time Pro Bowler has been in the NFL since 2012 when he was picked up by the Washington Redskins in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL draft. In 2015, he was named their starting quarterback he played in that position for 57 out of 62 total games and threw 99 touchdowns on a 65.5% completion rate. In 2018, when he was signed by the Minnesota Vikings, he stayed as their starting QB for six seasons after having started and played 88 games and threw for 171 passing touchdowns on a 67.9% completion rate until 2024 when he was signed by the Atlanta Falcons to a four-year, $180 million contract. During his recent season, Cousins started and played 14 games, and had 18 passing touchdowns on a  66.9% completion rate. At 36 years old, Cousins has spent 13 seasons in the NFL, played 164 games, starting 159 of them, passed for 288 passing touchdowns, and currently has a 66.9% career completion rate. Before being replaced in Week 16 and the following two games to end the season, he was leading the league with 16 interceptions and was tied for the most fumbles. Unfortunately, the Falcons would go on to end their year in second place in the division with an 8-9 record compared to the Saints fourth place and 5-12 record. Looking at Cousin’s stats indicates that he is and has always been an incredible player. That talent partially comes from playing in the league at the same time as some of the greatest QBs of the era who were in their prime, such as Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, and, of course, Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints.

In 13 years, he has consistently had above a 62% completion rate, had 25 or more passing touchdowns in a single season except in 2023 and 2024, and had longevity in the first two teams for which he played in the league. You can overlook the stats of his rookie year in Atlanta by chalking those up to having to learn a new offense and playing in a new division. If the Saints choose not to sign him as the starting QB, they could at least hire him as an adviser, coach, or mentor to the current quarterbacks. Without a veteran quarterback on the team to pass the torch, the minimum that the management could do would be to have a player from whom they can learn, observe, and tell them stories from his career playing against some of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history.