The Saints change Taysom Hill’s designation from tight end to quarterback

Technically, the Saints now have four quarterbacks in the 53-man roster.

As noted by NewOrleans.football’s Nick Underhill, the team is moved the designation by Taysom Hill from tight end to quarterback. He had been listed as a tight end throughout camp.

The move gives the Saints an opportunity to potentially field Hill as QB2, with a third quarterback added to the gameday roster under the new emergency quarterback rule.

With this approach, Derek Carr would serve as QB1, Hill would fill the role of QB2, and Jameis Winston or rookie fourth-rounder Jake Haener would be the emergency third quarterback. The third quarterback could only play when both Carr and Hill were unavailable due to injury or an ejection.

When the saints do that, it is a creative application of the Rule. The second quarterback can play at will and field at other positions like tight end; Only the third emergency quarterback may only act under center.

Other teams might complain about this because that’s what teams usually do when an opponent sees a legitimate gap. The simple answer is, get a Taysom Hill and make it your QB2.

The only downside to this approach is that the Saints are forced to field Hill as a second quarterback in the event Carr is injured.

The upside is that it allows the Saints to train an additional player since they don’t have to allocate three regular spots to Carr, Hill, and Winston or Haener. Winston or Haener would be considered an extra man under the new emergency quarterback rule.