Potential No. 1 overall 2025 NFL Draft pick Cam Ward revealed the team he wants to play for most — but it’s not one of the teams selecting in the top three.
“It would be a dream to play for [the Saints], if I get a chance someday,” Ward said to reporters in New Orleans after winning the Allstate Sugar Bowl 2024 Manning Award, which is given to the nation’s best quarterback.
Ward falling to New Orleans at No. 9 is essentially out of the picture.
Despite the long odds, though, he met with the Saints during the NFL Scouting Combine.
He raved about the meeting and the organization’s new head coach Kellen Moore, who just won the Super Bowl with the Eagles as their offensive coordinator.
“It was a great meeting,” Ward said. “If you get a chance to go play with a Super Bowl coach like coach Moore — he knows how to dial up a playbook.”
Ward grew up in West Columbia, Texas, about 400 miles west of New Orleans, but he appreciated watching one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time and his top receiving target light it up with the Saints.
“The Saints were one of my favorite teams growing up,” Ward said. “When I was little, I loved watching Drew Brees and [Marques] Colston out there.”
It’s been a journey for Ward, as he was an unrated recruit out of high school and wound up playing his first collegiate season at The University of the Incarnate Word, a Catholic university in San Antonio.
He then transferred to Washington State before wrapping up his career at Miami and cementing himself as a potential top draft pick.
While New Orleans would be the preferred next stop on Ward’s journey, he followed up his Saints comments by saying, “that’s not really my main focus right now.”
New Orleans, riding with Derek Carr again this year, could certainly use a potential franchise quarterback like Ward as the organization begins its new era under Moore.
But the Saints would have to offer up some serious capital to the teams in the top three — the тιтans, Browns and Giants — if they want a chance to select Ward.
While Ward has a great chance at being the first overall pick, he’s not concerned about the status that comes along with it.
“It wouldn’t mean anything to me, the pick is never anything,” Ward said. “If someone wants to be known for a pick, they’re not playing for the right reasons.”
