While Panthers Lock Up Their Future, Saints Must Solve the Quarterback Question That's Been Haunting New Orleans

You know, I've been watching football for a long time, and there's nothing more important to a franchise than getting that quarterback position right. Nothing. I mean, you can have the best defense in the world, the best offensive line, the best running back since Walter Payton, but if you don't have your quarterback situation figured out, you're just spinning your wheels like a car stuck in the mud on a Louisiana back road. And right now, while Dan Morgan and the Carolina Panthers are talking about locking up Bryce Young to a long-term deal, the New Orleans Saints are sitting here wondering what in the world they're going to do at the position that matters most in this entire game.

See, the Panthers got themselves a young quarterback in Bryce Young, and they're making the smart move by wanting to get him secured with a long-term contract. That's how you build a franchise. That's how you create continuity and let a young player develop without looking over his shoulder every single day. Morgan says they'll do it at the right time, and I respect that kind of patience in this crazy business. But here's what really gets me thinking about the Saints situation, and why this Panthers news should have all of us Who Dat fans sitting up and paying attention real close.

The Saints are in a completely different position than Carolina, and it's a position that frankly makes me feel a certain kind of way about where this organization stands right now. We're not talking about securing a young quarterback for the future like the Panthers are doing. We're talking about an entirely different problem, one that's been gnawing at this franchise like a hungry alligator for a couple of years now. Dennis Allen and the front office have been trying to figure out the Derek Carr situation, and before that, we were dealing with the end of an era with Drew Brees that nobody really wanted to see happen.

Let me tell you something about New Orleans Saints fans. We've been spoiled, and I mean that in the best possible way. We got to watch Drew Brees, maybe the greatest quarterback to ever wear a black and gold jersey, orchestrate some of the most beautiful football you've ever seen. The man threw the football with precision that was just remarkable. He won us a Super Bowl. He made us believe that anything was possible in the Superdome. And when he finally hung it up, we all had to accept that those days were behind us. That's hard for any fan base to swallow, but especially in a city like New Orleans where football means everything.

When the Saints brought in Derek Carr, a lot of us thought maybe we had found our next solution. Carr is a professional quarterback. He's been around the block. He knows how to run an offense. He's got the kind of experience that can help a team compete right now, today, not five years down the road. But here we are, and the situation has gotten complicated. Injuries have played a role. The overall performance hasn't been what anyone envisioned. And now we're sitting here wondering what happens next.

The Panthers with Bryce Young are in Year Two of figuring out if they've got their franchise guy. Young had a rough rookie year, and Carolina made a change at head coach bringing in Dave Canales. Now they're investing in the kid and saying we believe in you, we're going to build around you, we're going to stick with you through the ups and downs. That's the kind of commitment you need to make when you think you've found the right quarterback. You can't be jumping around every year changing coaches and schemes and throwing the kid to the wolves without proper support.

The Saints, on the other hand, don't really have that luxury right now. We're not in a position where we can say with absolute certainty that Derek Carr is our future. The injuries and the overall team performance have made that situation murky. But we also can't exactly tank and wait for the perfect quarterback prospect in the draft either because we've still got an organization that's trying to win games right now, today, this season. We've got players on this roster who deserve the chance to compete for a championship. We've got a city that lives and breathes football and expects this team to be in the hunt.

This is where the contrast between what the Panthers are doing and what the Saints need to figure out becomes really important. Carolina can afford to be patient with Bryce Young because even though they're not winning a ton of games right now, they're building for the future. They're saying this is our guy, let's give him every opportunity to succeed. The Saints, meanwhile, have to balance competing right now with the reality that we need to figure out the quarterback position for real.

I think about some of the great Saints quarterbacks of the past, guys like Archie Manning who played in impossible circumstances, and Bobby Hebert who brought some excitement to the dome, and obviously Drew Brees who was just transcendent. Each one of those guys got an opportunity to succeed because the organization invested in them and around them. The Panthers are taking that approach with Young right now, and frankly, I respect it. They're not panicking. They're not jumping ship. They're saying we think this kid can be our guy, and we're going to commit to finding out.

The question for the Saints is whether Derek Carr can be that guy moving forward, or whether we need to look in a different direction entirely. Maybe it's a draft prospect. Maybe it's someone available in free agency. Maybe it's someone nobody has even thought of yet. But whatever the path is, the organization needs to make a decision and commit to it with the same kind of confidence that the Panthers are showing with Bryce Young. You can't be wishy washy about the quarterback position in this league. You can't be changing your mind every six months.

New Orleans has been through a lot over the years, both as a city and as a football community. We've had some great times in the Superdome, and we've had some times where you wondered if things would ever get better. But one thing I've always believed about Saints fans is that we show up, we believe in our team, and we stick with them through thick and thin. We deserve a front office that has the same kind of commitment to solving our problems.

So while we watch the Panthers talk about locking up their quarterback for the long haul, Saints fans should be thinking hard about what we want our future to look like. Do we believe in Derek Carr? If we do, let's commit to him fully and build around him. If we don't, let's make a bold move and find the guy we think can lead us back to glory. What we can't do is stay in this middle ground where nobody quite knows what we're doing or why. The Panthers are showing us that commitment and patience with a young quarterback can be a winning strategy. The question now is what strategy the Saints are going to choose.