What the Andy Dalton signing means for Taysom Hill and Ian Book

The New Orleans Saints have gotten themselves a serviceable backup QB. New Orleans announced the signing of Andy Dalton to a 1 year, $6 million deal with nearly $3 million guaranteed. The contracts gives the 34-year-old coined as “The Red Rifle” the opportunity to be on a contending franchise in the later years of his career. The 3-time Pro Bowler will be a huge benefit for Dennis Allen’s offense under Jameis Winston, who is returning from an torn ACL suffered last season. Dalton has also thrown for 35k yards and 226 TDS with only 135 INTs in his career.

So now, what does this signing mean for the other quarterbacks in the locker room? Let’s dive into it:

Taysom Hill

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Taysom Hill will return to doing his Swiss Army Knife role full time now that Dalton is in the locker room for New Orleans. Both Dennis Allen and Sean Payton were hesitant to put him in that role full time because of the possibility of him playing quarterback if needed. Now, Allen says that Hill will play a h-back tight end role in the Saints offense and could still return occasionally under center for his masterful QB-Power plays and draws. Personally, this is the best role for both Taysom and the Saints because now, Taysom can do what he’s best at and the organization doesn’t have to pay him an absurd amount of money.

Ian Book

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Let me preface this by saying: Ian Book is not a bad option.

However, Book was never going to be the backup this season for the Saints. The way things are going, he might not even be on the roster in 2023. Book, a 4th round pick from Notre Dame, is a player that the Saints overpaid for. Book was projected by many mocks to be a late round or even UDFA. The Saints could’ve done so much more with that 4th round pick, but I digress.

Now, this gives Ian Book the opportunity to learn under two very reputable NFL quarterbacks in order to learn more about the system and just the general way of doing things in the NFL. I don’t doubt that Book can be a good player in the league, it just won’t be anytime soon.