Exploring How the Saints Could Trade Up for Cam Ward
Giving up that much capitol for a QB that would likely be at absolute best QB2 off the board just about any other year seems a bit crazy to me. Ward isn't a generational talent at QB. Not by a long shot.
Yet many drafts feature #2/#3 QB's that are absolutely worth their weight in gold. Daniels in 2024, CJ Stroud in 2023, Herbert in 2020, Josh Allen in 2018, Patrick Mahomes in 2017.
Ward has shown to be very productive over the past few years and continues to take strides forward each year. Has impressive arm talent in terms of velocity/arm angles to go along with his top tier production, has "Mahomes esque" athleticism to extend and buy time with his legs, has great anticipation for a college QB (which is probably one of the most important traits for success), very good about not taking sacks, and throws with touch and accuracy. Like there's no real big "red flags" for Ward as a prospect. There's no such thing as a "sure thing" QB prospect, but Ward seems to check just about every box you'd like to see to give him a good chance of being a quality NFL QB.
Next year alone will likely have 3 or 4 QB's in the draft better than him. It would be far more beneficial just to trade away #9 for ammo in next year's draft and take a QB in 2026 draft then to give up a kings ransom for a QB who may not even be among the 4 best next year.
Who will be better than Cam Ward next year? As it currently stands, none of them are better than Cam Ward. Arch Manning hasn't proven anything yet and it seems very possible he could stay until 2027. Iamaleava, Allar, Sellers, Nussmeier "have talent", but they all need to take a huge step forward to be on Ward's level. Don't get me wrong, I'm intrigued by some of them, but that's all it is right now. Many QB's never take that next step.