Could Saints QB Taysom Hill Be Starting Elsewhere in 2021?

By: Joe Pepe

The 2020 NFL season is ending Sunday with the Super Bowl. We all know, though, that football is a year-round sport due to its offseason. 2021 will be an intense offseason compared to recent years due to the free-agent market’s amount of talent. One team that will have to make some moves will be the New Orleans Saints.

The Saints roll into this offseason with a lot of cap issues for the franchise. They are, at the moment, over $100 million past the base salary cap. With restrictions being necessary for 2021, the Saints will have to move some talent on their squad to meet the requirements for every NFL team. The offseason is for speculations, and none could be more significant than what the Saints organization does with their quarterback position in the possibility of Drew Brees’ retirement.

One scenario the Saints could look into is trading Taysom Hill. His base salary for 2021 is over $10 million. Hill entered the starting role this year when Drew Brees went down with multiple broken ribs and a punctured lung. Hypothetically speaking, if the Saints moved on from Hill, they would need to find suitors to execute this trade.

Remember the Saints roster Jameis Winston in 2020, now a free agent; however, Sean Payton could bring back to the team on a cheaper deal. Who would be the perfect trade partners for Taysom Hill?

Trade Option Number One

The Washington Football Team (WFT) had a stellar year that most analysts did not predict. Washington has a strong defense, a budding number one wide receiver in Terry McLaurin, a strong backfield, and a young stud at tight end with Logan Thomas. The piece the team is missing is at quarterback.

Alex Smith is a free agent this offseason. Smith could move on in free agency, or he could retire. One of the rumors swirling around the NFL is a reunion between Ron Rivera and his former Carolina Panthers (now a free agent) Cam Newton. Between Newton and Hill’s albeit small sample size, Hill outperformed Newton on the NFL field this offseason.

Washington was involved in the Matt Stafford sweepstakes and rumored to be running for disgruntled Houston quarterback Deshaun Watson. However, if they lose in the Watson sweepstakes, Washington could turn their eyes to Hill. This contract would allow New Orleans to dump off one of their contracts while allowing Washington to increase their quarterback room talent.

Trade Option Number Two

Rumors have been swirling around the Twitterverse about the Chicago Bears being in the running for a new quarterback, most leads pointing to Carson Wentz. Bears fans (and NFL fans in general) are questioning why you would bring back the pairing of Carson Wentz and Nick Foles to lead to another carousel between the two veteran quarterbacks. Instead, the Bears could reach out to the Saints for their dual-threat quarterback, who went 3-1 in relief of Brees. Hill’s dual-threat ability would allow for their running game to blossom with David Montgomery, who made a surge at the end of 2020 in the Bears’ backfield.

Trade Option Number Three

This trade scenario with the Niners would be the least likely of the three written in this article. According to rumors, the Niners have been looking to upgrade all offseason at the quarterback position. Taysom Hill would all the running capability to an offense loaded with weapons such as George Kittle, Debo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and a plethora of running backs. An interesting stat to consider: Taysom Hill’s, in his brief stint starting, highest yards per attempt were 10.13; Jimmy Garoppolo best game (with the same stat) was 11.08

Neither quarterback was throwing deep down the field this season. Hill, however, possesses the ability to bring his running abilities to Kyle Shanahan’s offense. The Niners would avoid Garoppolo’s base salary of $24 million in 2021 by trading their once Super Bowl quarterback trade. With the Saints in salary cap trouble, this scenario is more of a pipe dream than a realistic opportunity.

Where would you like to see Taysom Hill play in 2021? Let us know at @profootballman1; @jpep20 is also my username if you want to discuss Hill more!