Insider Believes Saints Could Pass on QB at Pick No. 9, Push Shedeur Sanders Down Board
NFL insider Dianna Russini of The Athletic thinks the New Orleans Saints could pass on quarterback at pick No. 9 in the 2025 NFL Draft.
There is growing belief that the New Orleans Saints will use the No. 9 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft on a quarterback after news broke that Derek Carr is dealing with a shoulder injury that threatens his availability for the 2025 season. NFL insider Dianna Russini of The Athletic doesn’t think that’s necessarily the case, though.
Russini believes the Saints could decide to address another big need with their first-round pick instead and then revisit their quarterback search later on in the draft.
“I had someone in football tell me that this is a team that could be changing to an odd front and edge rusher, that is a premium need for New Orleans,” Russini said.
If that is true, the belief that Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders could fall to the Pittsburgh Steelers becomes increasingly more possible.
Sanders must first get past the Cleveland Browns at pick No. 2 and New York Giants, who are planning to get one last look at him this week, at pick No. 3. But if both teams pass on him along with the Saints, he may just fall into the Steelers lap.
That would likely be one of Pittsburgh’s dream scenarios with just Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson occupying the team’s quarterback room and the wait on Aaron Rodgers continuing to drag on.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin also reportedly really likes Sanders, so it’s safe to assume he could even play a part in a potential move-up to get Sanders if he were to slide.
However, before any of that happens, the Steelers must hope he gets past the Saints at No. 9. Then they can start imagining him being their franchise quarterback for the next decade plus.
Sanders could prove to be exactly that after throwing for 7,364 yards, 64 touchdowns and 13 interceptions over the past two seasons at Colorado.
