The New Orleans Saints are entering a new era under head coach Kellen Moore. New Orleans has plenty of work to do this offseason, especially in the 2025 NFL Draft. One draft analyst believes the team will select a quarterback during the first round.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper made an incredibly bold prediction about the Saints’ first round pick in his latest 2025 NFL mock draft. Kiper predicted that the Saints will select QB Jaxson Dart from Ole Miss at ninth overall.
“New coach Kellen Moore might want a young quarterback to work with and develop over the course of 2025 before turning the offense over to him in 2026,” Kiper wrote. “I’m hearing more and more first-round buzz on Dart, and New Orleans seems like a good fit.”
Kiper noted that Derek Carr’s recently restructured contract might make this pick seem strange. However, Kiper believes it might give the Saints the confidence to draft and develop their next franchise quarterback.
“He wouldn’t be forced to play right away and could learn behind Carr,” Kiper added.
Dart appears to be soaring up draft boards after his impressive showing at the NFL Combine. With some many QB-needy teams in the 2025 NFL Draft, it is not too far-fetched that Dart could become a first-round pick.
Ultimately, Kiper believes this move by the Saints could be a nice investment in their future.
“This team still has a lot of roster-building decisions to make, but getting the QB of the future now does make some sense,” Kiper concluded.
Should the Saints select a QB in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft?
Do the Saints really need to spend a top-10 pick on a quarterback in 2025?
The Saints are in an awkward phase of their rebuilding effort to select a rookie quarterback. Derek Carr is still in the building, and the quarterback is still filled with other backups and developmental players.
The quarterback position is arguably the most important in all of professional sports, so it is understandable to want to find a QB as soon as possible.
That said, one of the benefits of a rookie QB is building a strong team around him on his rookie contract. New Orleans is not well positioned to deploy their resources to build a team around a rookie, especially considering their cavalier approach to the salary cap.
The Saints would be better off building up the roster around Derek Carr before investing in a rookie quarterback in the future.
The post Saints rumors: Mel Kiper makes ‘surprise’ QB pick in new mock draft appeared first on ClutchPoints.
