With Drew Brees retired, where will the Saints go at quarterback?

The timing ended up being perfect. The 15th anniversary of Drew Brees‘ signing with the Saints came one day before the 2021 free-agent market unofficially opened. For planning purposes, the Saints needed to know by tomorrow whether Brees would be retiring, and now they do.

So what’s next for the Saints? The restructuring of Taysom Hill‘s contract means that he’ll be on the team in 2021, since trading him now would result in the cap-strapped Saints taking a charge in the amount of most of his 2021 compensation.

This also likely means that the Saints won’t be trading for Russell Wilson. The phony Taysom Hill extension matches Wilson’s annual average of $35 million per year, and a source with knowledge of the transaction has hinted that it’s not a coincidence.

The Saints remain interested in bringing back Jameis Winston. The question, however, is the amount they’re willing to pay. The current chatter on the league grapevine is that the Saints aren’t willing to pay much more than they paid Winston last year — and last year the Saints didn’t pay Winston very much.

If Winston goes elsewhere, the Saints become an ideal spot for a quarterback looking to learn from Sean Payton, and to be an injury away from Taysom Hill to significant playing time.

However it plays out, Hill looks to be the prime candidate to succeed Brees. Like so many other things in the NFL, however, that could be subject to change.