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I just had a feeling that we would trade back in for a late round QB. We did.

AsylumGuido

No. We traded back in for a late round WR and that is why we signed Winston as the backup QB. Stevens has already let it be known that he is slotted to be a receiver and although he wants to play QB he is completely okay with transitioning to WR if it means he gets to remain in the league.

Beastmode

He's a damn good scout at like 3 positions, maybe 4. It's a fine move. Go look at his Penn State highlights. Lots of crazy RB, WR trick plays. He can mimick teams like SF & the Ravens. It's where the NFL is heading. Not wildcat but misdirection. Really have to have a player like that. Train how you fight sorta thing.

Rugby Saint II

Good to know Guido. I know he's athletically talented and Sean requested film of him running routes. So it makes sense.

AsylumGuido

Payton apparently plans to start using Stevens in much the same role as Taysom had been playing ... special teams, receiver, wildcat, etc. ... right away.

Did the Saints find their next Taysom Hill? Sean Payton previews the plan for Tommy Stevens

Does Stevens' role sound familiar? That's how the Saints have used Hill over the past few seasons, although Stevens enters the Saints offense with a lot more experience as a hybrid player.

"We always talk about what's the vision, let's describe the vision," Payton said. "(He) Comes in, he's (a) developmental quarterback. We feel like he's a guy that can play in the kicking game. We feel like he's a guy that can play some F, can help both in the passing game and the running game develop behind a guy, like Taysom Hill who's in that role currently and then once the athlete gets here, once the player gets here, we begin working with those skill sets and try to develop those as quickly as possible."

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” — Winston Churchill

Pete

I'm wondering who we stole him from...
Quote from Jeff Ireland:
“And then Tommy Stevens. He’s an interesting athlete. We felt like we might be able to get him in the free agency process, but we ended up finding out that we couldn’t. There’s an in-division rival that felt like they had him signed, sealed and delivered. Agent wasn’t really talking to us, so we just decided we’d just go take him from them. I’ll let Sean tell you the whole story, but there’s a little bit of competitive juices flying between me and Sean about, ‘We want this player. We’re not going to let anybody take him from us. We’re going to take him from them.’

AsylumGuido

Thinking Carolina and their new OC Joe Brady. He worked with Taysom Hill his first year with the Saints, right?

AsylumGuido

My hunch was right. It was the Panthers that were going to sign Stevens to a UDFA deal.

Saints made a spite trade to draft a fourth quarterback

The Saints have already invested heavily in the first Taysom Hill this offseason.

But they also spent a 2021 draft pick on a guy who they think could become the next one, and managed to jam a division rival in the process.

Via Jeff Duncan of TheAthletic.com, the Saints made the aggressive move to trade their sixth-rounder next year for the 240th overall pick, so they could take Mississippi State quarterback Tommy Stevens.

The short version of the story is that before the end of the draft, Stevens had effectively agreed to join the Panthers as an undrafted free agent, based largely on a tie to offensive coordinator Joe Brady. Brady was a grad assistant at Penn State when Stevens was recruited there.

The Saints were interested in a similar deal, and negotiated with Stevens’ agent during the draft, but then the agent stopped taking their calls, leaving the Saints to assume they were sticking with their agreement with the Panthers. Since the Saints had traded all their third-day picks to move up to take tight end Adam Trautman in the third, they had no ammunition, so they made a deal with the Texans for the pick needed to acquire Stevens.

“It became my project,” Payton said.

Payton texted Brady “Not so fast,” and Brady apparently replied with a good-natured profanity to Saints coordinator Pete Carmichael, acknowledging that his old boss had beaten him to the punch. Stevens eventually talked to Payton and said he felt stuck because he had given his word to the Panthers.

“I said, honestly, I was having some fun,” Payton said. “You had given your word and I respect that. But we weren’t going to lose you. You were going to become a Saint.”

Of course, all of Payton’s gamesmanship may turn out to be for naught. With so much invested in Drew Brees and Hill, and former No. 1 overall pick Jameis Winston signing on the cheap, the Saints may or may not have room for another project at the position. And by drafting him, they’re on the hook for about $80,000 in signing bonus (they offered to guarantee more in salary before drafting him). If they cut him, the Panthers can always claim Stevens off waivers for free, as roster spots should be easier to come by in Charlotte than New Orleans this year.

But for today, Payton got his man. And bragging rights over one of his old assistants. Even if it is a bit of a weird flex.

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” — Winston Churchill