Search is on for a franchise QB to lead Saints to glory

Ed Daniels, Sports
Clarion Herald

It’s hard not to watch conference championship games, or the Super Bowl, and wonder when the Saints will get back.

It could be worse: The Saints could be in the AFC.

Quarterbacks Joe Burrow (Bengals) and Josh Allen (Bills) are both 26.

The Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, who will play in his third Super Bowl in four seasons, is 27.

Good luck with that.

Feb. 7, 2010, was one of the days and nights that stays with you forever.

As I watched the Saints celebrate on the field in Miami and Sean Payton hoist the Lombardi Trophy, a part of me wanted to be back in New Orleans.

When we arrived back at the hotel at 3:45 that morning, my wife asked me what time my wake-up call was?

“5:30,” I told her.

She thought I was kidding.

I thought, as Payton met with reporters early Monday morning, that we would certainly be back, doing this all over again, sometime very soon.

Now, this doesn’t appear to be a game that is in New Orleans’ immediate future.

The Saints will not tear down and rebuild. After years and years of excellence, being really bad is likely not in their DNA.

So, the search for that franchise quarterback is on.

Maybe, like the Eagles, who drafted Jalen Hurts with the 53rd pick, the Saints can find a franchise quarterback in the second round.

Or, maybe they go for a veteran who can get them back into contention quickly.

The last two Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks, Matthew Stafford and Tom Brady, were just that.

Dennis Allen and Mickey Loomis have to find the answer quickly.

It is interesting what a franchise quarterback can do for a head coach’s legacy.

In Philadelphia, Andy Reid was regarded as an excellent coach who struggled in the big games.

But, on Sunday night, there was the ticker on the bottom of the TV screen, noting that Andy Reid had 21 postseason victories, second-most among NFL coaches.

Reid had broken a tie for second with former Cowboys coach Tom Landry.

Of course, the coach with the most is the Patriots’ Bill Belichick.

As the debate continues this offseason in New Orleans on the merits of Dennis Allen as a head coach, remember that Belichick, the supposed greatest of all-time, is 25-25 since Tom Brady departed.

So, next Sunday night, as my wife watches the game just for the commercials, I will watch, sort of detached.

Now that the Saints are not Super Bowl contenders, the big game, as they call it, has lost some of its luster.

Ed Daniels is sports director of ABC26 WGNO. He can be reached at [email protected].