Saints met with top QB prospect Cam Ward [Schefter: CLE, NYG or maybe Saints have to make an offer compelling enough for #1 pick]

It doesn't set the franchise back a decade. You have 4 years to figure out if he's right and depending on how the trade up is structured you get a full compliments of picks back after a year or two. If he's a bust then chances are you have a top 5 pick in the next few years to try again.

In 2021 Bears traded up for Fields giving up a future first. In 2024 they ended up with the first overall pick and drafted what was billed as a generational talent at QB.

We've been non-aggressive at finding a franchise QB for 8 years and it still hasn't happened and chances are it doesn't happen this year. If we end up with another middle of the pack pick next year we'll be in the same situation. At some point we're going to have to trade up if you want a shot at a QB prospect with elite traits. Or else we're stuck picking through the Dart's, Levis, Mac Jones or Pickett's of the world and praying you get a Jordan Love without having the luxury of time to properly develop a Jordan Love.
Man is spitting. For fun (and I ain't gonna entertain the "oh this player should be this thing), this is how the Saints have drafted recently - I'd much rather them swing for the fences for a QB they are in love with than continue the same path over and over. "Build in the trenches, there are holes everywhere!" Yeah, they've tried that route. It hasn't worked.

So now they want to fix the most important position on the team (WHICH IS VERY RISKY) and it's like "nope don't do it, no way". It's baffling.