Saints Reunite with QB as Competition Intensifies
The New Orleans Saints are still undecided on who will be their starting quarterback for Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals. With preseason games yet to begin, there’s no rush to make that call. At the moment, Spencer Rattler, Tyler Shough, and Jake Haener remain in the running for the starting spot. New Orleans even released an unofficial depth chart with all three quarterbacks listed with an “or” between their names, signaling there’s no clear frontrunner yet. 
Meanwhile, the Saints are making moves to bolster their roster. On Wednesday, they made another adjustment to the quarterback position.
Saints Keep Adding Depth Ahead of Preseason; What’s Next?
The Saints recently made a change in their quarterback room, parting ways with undrafted free agent Hunter Dekkers to make space for punter Kai Kroeger. As reported by Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football on July 31st, “Saints released Hunter Dekkers and signed P Kai Kroeger.”
However, Dekkers’ time with the team was short-lived. Jeff Nowak of Audacy Sports reported on Wednesday that the Saints are re-signing him.
“Saints have re-signed QB Hunter Dekkers and waived P Matthew Hayball. Looks like the Saints will have a third consecutive season with a rookie punter,” Nowak tweeted.
This move narrows the punter competition down to James Burnip and Kroeger, who had initially replaced Dekkers on the roster. As of now, it’s uncertain who will win the punter job, but that, like the quarterback decision, will be decided during the preseason.
Ultimately, the Saints continue to fine-tune their roster. Throughout training camp, we’ve seen several smaller moves like this to ensure the team has enough depth heading into the preseason. The Saints’ first preseason game is on Sunday, August 10th, against the Los Angeles Chargers, and this will be a pivotal moment for the team. The roster battles—especially at quarterback and punter—will be on full display, and fans will finally start to get answers to the questions that have been swirling around.
While the re-signing of Dekkers isn’t a major headline, it’s another example of the Saints’ efforts to maintain depth with a player who’s been with the team throughout the summer.
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