Recent Moves by the New Orleans Saints Show They Are Gearing Up For a Drew Brees Exit

SI's Albert Breer shares what the recent deals mean for the Saints going forward

On Tuesday, the Saints and Jameis Winston made it official, with the quarterback signing a one-year deal worth $1.1 million with incentives that can take it to close to $5 Million. 

But this was not about the money. And it truly is a win win for both sides. For Winston, he has a chance to go and rehabilitate his image a little bit, work in the background with one of the best quarterback coaches in the sport. That's Sean Payton. And he has the chance to learn from one of the greatest quarterbacks ever to play the sport, Drew Brees. 

You want an example of how this worked for someone else? Take a look at what it did for Teddy Bridgewater, coming off a horrific injury in Minnesota - he winds up siding with the Jets, gets traded to the Saints, and spending two years in New Orleans really proved that he was healthy again. This off-season he signed with the Carolina Panthers. He is their unquestioned starting quarterback now and has a three-year $63 Million deal. 

For the Saints, this is about planning post-Drew Brees. They already have Taysom Hill on the roster, they signed him for 2021. They have Winston under contract for this year. They get a chance to develop and evaluate Winston in their system. They'll have the chance at the same time to see if Hill makes progress and then they'll be able to make a decision on the quarterback position after 2020 should Drew Brees retire. 

As much as anything else - this is about throwing one more dart at that quarterback dartboard. And if you want an example of how that worked out for someone else: look at how the Seattle Seahawks built for three years under Pete Carroll and John Schneider who kept taking shots at who might be their quarterback. Trading for Charlie Whitehurst, bringing in Tarvaris Jackson, signing Matt Flynn, and bringing Matt Hasselbeck back for a year. And in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft, they end up landing Russell Wilson. The rest is history. The Saints doing the same sort of thing here, throwing multiple darts at that dartboard.