With The First Pick
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Daily Draft Digest: Saints stole QB Tommy Stevens from division rival

By Cory Kinnan

FAYETTEVILLE, AR - NOVEMBER 9: Tommy Stevens #7 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs throws a pass during a game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Davis Wade Stadium on November 16, 2019 in Starkville, Mississippi. The Crimson Tide defeated the Bulldogs 38-7. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
FAYETTEVILLE, AR - NOVEMBER 9: Tommy Stevens #7 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs throws a pass during a game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Davis Wade Stadium on November 16, 2019 in Starkville, Mississippi. The Crimson Tide defeated the Bulldogs 38-7. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
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KNOXVILLE, TN – OCTOBER 12: Tommy Stevens #7 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs looks to pass during a game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on October 12, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. He landed with the Saints in the 2020 NFL Draft. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN – OCTOBER 12: Tommy Stevens #7 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs looks to pass during a game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on October 12, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. He landed with the Saints in the 2020 NFL Draft. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) /

While a seventh round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft may seem insignificant, the story of how Tommy Stevens landed with the Saints is anything but.

The New Orleans Saints already have a newly paid Taysom Hill on their roster, but that did not stop them from hoarding versatile offensive chess pieces. After Penn State transfer turn Mississippi State quarterback Tommy Stevens claimed that Hill paved his future in the NFL, the Saints went out of their way to monopolize such a weapon by trading back into the 2020 NFL Draft to select him in the seventh round.

There is, however, more to the story than the Saints just grabbing Stevens in order to bring him in New Orleans, as the division rival Carolina Panthers were also interested in his services. According to The Athletic’s Jeff Duncan, the Panthers had a deal in place to bring Stevens to Carolina should he become an undrafted free agent.

Sean Payton tried to swoop in and match the offer, claiming that he “invented the position” but Stevens told the Saints that he intended to stick with his original deal. New Carolina offensive coordinator and former coach of Stevens when he was a graduate assistant at Penn State, Joe Brady, was quite smitten with the Mississippi quarterback, and the competitive spirit in Payton raged on.

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According to Duncan, Payton refused to take no for an answer, initiating the Saints’ deal with the Minnesota Vikings to move back into the seventh round in order to steal Stevens away from the Panthers and Brady. Payton reportedly sent the Carolina offensive coordinator a text that read, “I am tired of asking. Now, I am taking.”

Hill is now 30 years old, and while he signed a two year deal with the Saints, it was virtually all front loaded at signing. Given Stevens’ stature at 6-5 and 237 pounds, the Saints could view him as the heir apparent to Hill in New Orleans should they move on from their original weapon after the 2020 season.

Petty? Maybe.

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However, Sean Payton has shown time and time again that he will do what it takes to get an edge over his opponents, and more severely his division foes. Stevens knows his path to success is to move all over the field in a variety of looks, and now he gets to learn from Hill. How soon will Stevens find himself on the field in New Orleans, however?

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