Report: Saints tried to trade for another team’s starting QB

The New Orleans Saints chose not to bring in another veteran quarterback after Jameis Winston went down with a season-ending knee injury last week. Sean Payton said doing so would be very difficult at this point in the season, but it sounds like the coach would have made an exception for at least one player.

The Saints were among several teams who inquired about Denver Broncos starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater prior to Tuesday’s trade deadline, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports. Bridgewater was not available, however.

Von Miller wasn’t the only #Broncos veteran who drew interest before last week’s trade deadline. They also had inquiries about Teddy Bridgewater — including from the #Saints — but never considered dealing their starting QB. @NFLGameDay @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/KBVUEHLcom

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 7, 2021

Payton specifically said bringing in a quarterback midseason would be “a challenge” due to a lack of familiarity with the Saints’ system. Bridgewater spent two seasons in New Orleans in 2018 and 2019, so that would not apply to him. He played well for several games in place of an injured Drew Brees in 2019.

The Saints are sticking with Trevor Siemian, at least for now. Siemian helped lead the Saints to an upset win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after Winston hurt his knee last week. There has been talk of one former Pro Bowler coming out of retirement to play for New Orleans, but that seems very unlikely.