Saints Predicted To Pair Derek Carr With 23-Year-Old Phenom

The New Orleans Saints already have made it known who will be the team's starting quarterback in 2025.

Rumors were flowing for weeks about the future of four-time Pro Bowler Derek Carr. General manager Mickey Loomis addressed the question ahead of the National Football League Scouting Combine and made it sound like Carr is going to be the team's guy in 2025. He has a huge cap number right now, but he didn't shy away from him.

The Saints have a lot of work to do to get to cap compliance before the new NFL league year, but it would be pretty surprising if Carr wasn't with the team in 2025. Could the Saints still add another signal-caller, though?

The Athletic's Zack Rosenblatt predicted that the Saints' quarterback room with feature both Carr and 23-year-old phenom Shedeur Sanders.

"Saints: Derek Carr and Shedeur Sanders," Rosenblatt said. "The Saints don’t really have much of an avenue to improve this position and might be stuck with Carr for now. New Orleans is already $47 million over the cap and wouldn’t get much relief by cutting Carr pre-June 1 ($1.3 million), and he’s unlikely to garner any trade interest at this point. So the Saints are more likely to just roll with him for one more year.

"That wouldn’t preclude them from drafting someone. I think it’s conceivable at this point that Sanders drops out of the Top 5; he would offer the Saints a way out of the quarterback purgatory they’ve found themselves in since Drew Brees retired. If Sanders falls to No. 9 and the Saints are high enough on him, it’s worth taking the swing."

The Saints have the No. 9 pick in the upcoming draft, and there has been some chatter that Sanders may not get picked as high as some initially expected. If he's available at No. 9, it could make sense to bring him in for the future.

Sanders is one of the top two quarterbacks in this draft class. It would make for a fun year if they could draft him.