With the NFL Draft just 24 hours away (give or take, depending on when you’re reading this), the New Orleans Saints have a franchise-altering decision to make.
Will New Orleans take Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders with the ninth overall pick? Or will they go for the best player available (or their perception of whoever that player is), and wait until later in the draft to address the question mark at the quarterback position?
The Saints don’t know whether starter Derek Carr will be ready for Week 1, or for any game this season at all. Looking beyond the 2025 season, someone other than Carr is likely to become the full-time starter, and the main question is when and how the Saints will nab his replacement.
Sanders has talent, to be certain, but whether or not he’s a long-term starter in the NFL, let alone a star, is a hot debate topic these days. The Saints could regret taking him if he flops, but they could equally regret passing him up if he turns out to be a franchise guy.
On Wednesday, CBS Sports’ Ryan Wilson registered
a final prediction
: the Saints passing on Sanders in favor of Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. with the ninth pick.
“I gave serious thought to Shedeur here, but with the struggles of Trevor Penning and the retirement of Ryan Ramczyk, the Saints have to restock the OL with Banks, who is my OT1.”
Banks, 21, is a 6-foot-5, 315-pounder with all the physical tools a team could want from a future left tackle. Granted, he wouldn’t know whose blind side he’d be protecting at the time he was drafted, but New Orleans could create a better situation for whoever they wind up drafting.
In an appropriately timed update, the Saints also opted not to exercise their fifth-year option on Penning, making him a free agent after the 2025 season. New Orleans could play Banks and Penning together for a year, then reassess whether or not they still want the latter around.
The first round begins Thursday at 8 p.m. EST, after which all the weeks of questions around the Saints should finally have answers.
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Saints Predicted To Pass On Shedeur Sanders In Favor Of Much-Needed Tackle
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