Could the Saints make a shocking trade?

The New Orleans Saints are going into the 2024 NFL trade deadline with no intention of being a buyer, and that makes sense. The season has gone terribly. The Saints are last place in the NFC South, and head coach Dennis Allen has been fired. This is a recipe for a team being a seller at the deadline, and I would not be surprised if that happens. On the other hand, there might be a special case where the Saints could trade for a player before the deadline, and this would be Anthony Richardson

Colts young quarterback Anthony Richardson has had an interesting first two years in the NFL. Coming out of college, Richardson was considered a very raw prospect with some of the most incredible athleticism ever seen from a quarterback. If he was destined for any success in the NFL, development would need to happen, and if a team wanted to draft Richardson, they would probably sit him for a year. Well, the Colts drafted the talented quarterback at 4th overall in the 2023 NFL Draft, but instead of sitting Richardson, they named him the starter in week one of his rookie year. There is no perfect way to develop a quarterback in the NFL but sitting them for at least one year is the most proven path. By starting Richardson that early, the Colts stunted his development. Due to an injury, their rookie quarterback would miss the rest of that season, but there were high hopes going into 2024. Instead, Richardson has played six games and has struggled throughout. There have been insane flashes that show his star potential, but overall, his game has not been developed much. Now, it was announced by Colts head coach Shane Steichen that Anthony Richardson would be benched indefinitely. The interesting aspect of this move was that this may not have been because of his in-game performance. In week eight, there was a certain point in the game where it seemed like Richardson asked to be sidelined for a play. Although this may not be out of the ordinary because of an injury, it was later revealed that he did this because he was tired from the previous play. This is something that has never really been seen, and it made waves in the Colts Organization. Many people outside of the Colts felt like this was just a young player making a mistake, but inside the building, it led to Anthony Richardson’s benching. In my opinion, this was a young player making a young mistake. Anthony Richardson still has massive amounts of talent and needs the time to develop, and the New Orleans Saints can give him that.

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There are many reasons the Saints could entertain this move. A deal for Anthony Richardson would be the same as New Orleans drafting a QB and developing him. Richardson is only 22 years old, which makes him as old or even younger than some prospects in the 2025 Draft. He also has more potential than most, if not all, the QB prospects in the upcoming draft. Regarding development, the Saints do not need to start the young quarterback early. Barring injury, Derek Carr will probably be the starter for the rest of the season. This allows Richardson to sit and learn for the rest of the year, go through a full training camp and preseason, and fight for the Saints starting quarterback job in 2025. There could also be the case where Spencer Rattler may develop faster and take the starting job in 2025. If this happens, then Richardson would have even more development, and depending on how that season would go, Richardson could win the starting job in 2026. This move would also bring more flexibility to the Saints’ draft plan. Assuming that Derek Carr is off the team after this season, the Saints may be looking for a quarterback in the draft. If this trade with the Colts is done, New Orleans would not need to entertain the idea of reaching for a quarterback early because they would already have two potential NFL starting quarterbacks on the roster. These are some reasons why the Saints could make this trade, but it really all depends on how much the New Orleans would have to give up.

The Colts may not be fully willing to give up on Anthony Richardson, which may cause the price of this trade to be high. Saying this, benching Richardson indefinitely hurt his value. The Saints may be able to get this trade done by just sending a 2025 3rd round pick. I am fully against trading any draft capital now that this team is heading into a rebuild, but as I mentioned before, trading for Richardson would be like drafting a quarterback in the 2025 draft. Also, with the Saints trading away Marshon Lattimore today, they received a 3rd round pick in the deal. This allows the Saints to replace the 3rd rounder they would trade away for Richardson with the 3rd rounder they got back in the Lattimore deal.

The chances of the New Orleans Saints trading for Anthony Richardson are slim, but it is something to watch until the trade deadline. If the Saints did make this move, would you be happy? Or do you think the Saints should stay away?