Saints want to keep Taysom Hill as Drew Brees’ heir apparent

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Saints quarterback Drew Brees has not yet decided whether to retire. If he chooses to stay, the Saints will welcome him back with open arms. But the Saints also believe that in Taysom Hill, they have their quarterback of the future already on the roster.

Jay Glazer of FOX Sports reported today that Saints coach Sean Payton believes that Hill is ready to become the Saints’ franchise quarterback as soon as Brees retires.

The problem for the Saints is that they only have about $12 million in cap space for 2020, and that makes it financially difficult to afford to keep both Brees and Hill. With Hill set to become a restricted free agent, the Saints may put a first-round tender on Hill and then wait to see whether some team makes him an offer. If that were to happen, the Saints would have to decide whether to match that offer or to take that team’s first-round draft pick.

Teddy Bridgewater, who took over for the injured Brees for five games last season and led the Saints to a 5-0 record, also becomes a free agent in March. There’s no way the Saints could afford to keep all three quarterbacks, so it would seem likely that they’ll let Bridgewater walk.

Until Brees decides whether to play in 2020 or retire, everything else is on hold. But it appears that the Saints have decided that Hill is next, whether that’s in 2020 or 2021.