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The New Orleans Saints knocked off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday but lost starting quarterback Jameis Winston in the process.
News was confirmed on Monday that Winston will miss the remainder of the 2021 season with a torn ACL and a damaged MCL. The former No. 1 overall pick suffered the injury early in the second quarter while being brought down by Bucs linebacker Devin White.
#Saints QB Jameis Winston does, in fact, have a torn ACL, source said after the MRI. He is out for the season. There is also damage to the MCL.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 1, 2021
That leaves a huge question about what head coach Sean Payton and the Saints organization will do about the quarterback situation moving forward. They could simply hand the reigns to the soon-to-return Taysom Hill or let Trevor Siemian, who finished the game and guided the Saints to victory on Sunday, be the starter. Or they could look elsewhere via trade.
There’s a few safe, veteran options New Orleans could look at around the league, including Houston Texans quarterback Tyrod Taylor. He’s missed a great bulk of the season with a hamstring injury and while the team has already designated him to return from IR, they seem content with starting rookie Davis Mills as the veteran continues to heal. If the Saints are desperate enough to win this year, they could work something out to acquire Taylor by parting ways with future assets, whatever those may be.
Another possibility is Chicago Bears quarterback Andy Dalton, who has been firmly supplanted by rookie Justin Fields as the starter in the Windy City. Dalton doesn’t wow anyone at this point in his career but he certainly brings a veteran presence to a locker room. Dalton has reportedly been coaching up Fields in the weeks since the rookie was named the starter, so it’s doubtful the Bears would want to part ways with him midseason.
Other viable backups on teams the Saints could perhaps look into would be Mitchell Trubisky of the Buffalo Bills and Drew Lock of the Denver Broncos. They’re both young QBs who have plenty of starting experience under their belts and are in situations where they won’t be the starters for their current ballclubs anytime soon.
Sean Payton came out on Monday and indicated that he was content with the Saints’ quarterback room for now. But that doesn’t mean that GM Mickey Loomis won’t be on the phone seeing what’s out there as the trade deadline approaches.