National Football League

Saints want Taysom Hill to focus on playing tight end

Updated Mar. 29, 2022 3:46 p.m. ET

Teams love a versatile player, and perhaps no team has loved its versatile player more than the New Orleans Saints.

That's because the adaptable Taysom Hill will be shifting focus to a new position once again: tight end.

Hill, who has often been referred to as a "Swiss Army Knife" for the Saints, was used all over the field by former head coach Sean Payton for the last five seasons — from quarterback to special teams. But now that Dennis Allen is calling the shots, he wants Hill to focus on playing at the tight end spot.

Allen shared the plan with Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football.

Hill has started nine career games at quarterback but has not been the most prolific under center. He's amassed an 84.6 career passer rating while throwing for 2,025 career yards, eight touchdowns and eight interceptions.

As a rusher, the four-year veteran has scored 16 career touchdowns while totaling 1,183 yards and 86 first downs. He's also caught 34 passes for 388 yards and seven TDs. In 2021, he played 33 snaps as a tight end and didn't score a touchdown.

The Saints are hinging their QB hopes on Jameis Winston, who re-signed with the team but will be coming off of an ACL tear. Veteran QB Andy Dalton also signed on as the team's backup on Tuesday.

"If Jameis is out there playing quarterback, I don't like Taysom standing next to me on the sideline," Allen told The Athletic's Katherine Terrell.