The Saints are starting a new chapter. They have a new coach. Will a new QB follow?

The Saints didn’t seem like they were ready to lean into a rebuild. And, honestly, I’m not sure they were ever going to go there. Not all the way. Not willingly.

But now it’s here. Derek Carr has a shoulder injury and he’s facing the possibility of missing the season, according to a source. If that happens, that means there’s a good chance he never suits up for the Saints again. That also means that New Orleans is more or less in the midst of a full rebuild.

And, for what it's worth, Carr and the Saints have been in communication and all of this was known. Neither side probably wanted it to come out before the draft, but it did, and now everyone knows New Orleans has an increased need for a QB.

Scary times, to be sure. You always have to be careful what you wish for, and this could be one of those times. But it feels like time to start over. It’s felt like time. You could see the ceiling on what the team could be and it never had confetti falling like it did in the Superdome a few months ago for the Eagles.

A fresh start just feels like the best thing for Derek Carr and it feels like the best thing for the Saints. They tried to keep this going, to get the last out of the core of the team that won all those games, and it just didn’t work out for a variety of reasons, chief among them age and injury.

New Orleans looked and sounded like a team that was ready to keep it rolling with their quarterback as recently as the combine. We don’t know a timeline on how everything unfolded, but one source said he heard Carr mention the injury in March. And the Saints never might have gone all the way into a rebuild, but right now, failing a Hail Mary to Aaron Rodgers, there isn’t going to be much choice but to start over. And, really, that’s what the Saints should be focused on.

New coach. New QB. New start. Time to embrace it, be willing to stink for a little bit if you have to, and figure it all out. And if that’s the situation, all options should be on the table.

I still don’t think you do anything reckless, but when you don’t have a sure thing at quarterback and you need a sure thing at quarterback, a little more aggression needs to be in play. The threshold for risk tolerance needs to change. It has to, because, ultimately, you have nothing until you have the QB. So, maybe you flex even if you still are unwilling to reach.

Does that put Shedeur Sanders in play at 9? The quarterback could be there at nine, and while there hasn't been much to suggest he’s in play, perhaps that becomes a stronger possibility. It should.

Does that increase the possibility of drafting Tyler Shough, who seems to have the most buzz out of all the quarterbacks. He visited the team on Friday and feels like someone who could be an option. If he isn’t worth Pick 9, are you willing to move up from 40? We talked to Field Yates on our stream today and he made it sound like the Louisville QB is going pretty early. If they have to have Shough, that aggression meter has to go up since everyone now knows you don’t have a QB.

New Orleans also spent time around Jaxson Dart and Quinn Ewers and worked out Jalen Milroe and some others. The work on QBs was extensive, and it probably always would be because the position is that important, but it all means a little more now that we know what’s going on.

It’s not QB or bust. But it should be Need a QB and Willing to Spend.

Still, even with that, I wrote the other day that the team should really just play the board and try to make a lot of picks. I still think that’s true, though the team should widen that out a bit in the case of QBs. Whatever the threshold was before for making a pick, it needs to widen. Because, honestly, now that you don’t have an answer at QB, what’s the worst thing that happens if you swing and miss trying to make something shake? You lose a bunch of games, pick higher next year and dive back in?

Obviously, you don’t want to be doing that over and over and become the Jets, but you also have to find a way out. But as long as the process is good and defensible and not super reckless, I’m fine with swinging and missing at that position until you hit. Nothing is more important than finding a QB. Nothing is even equally important.

That doesn’t mean you have to take one. It’s OK to get a receiver and build out the line and improve the defense if that’s where the value is at. Just make good picks, good decisions, and be smart. That’s going to be the best way out of this — but you also can’t be afraid to fail while looking for a QB.

There are not going to be any right ways to move forward. And, honestly, the team might be in the most uncertain QB situation it has faced in decades. It should feel scary. It is scary. But something about this feels right, like it’s the right time. Let the new, young, brilliant head coach find his QB and build this his way.