In the Saints’ quest to find a worthy successor for 41-year-old Drew Brees, one NFL insider thinks their future quarterback is already on the roster — and could be “a bigger Lamar Jackson.”

“No smokescreen, he’s the guy,” The Athletic’s Jay Glazer said of backup Taysom Hill in a mailbag article on Wednesday. “Sean Payton loves him … I think Sean was always hoping to unleash him on the league without anyone seeing him before but now we’ve seen it with Lamar Jackson. He’s a bigger Lamar Jackson.”

Hill has been a divisive player since the team’s season ended in the NFC wild-card round to the Vikings. While many were impressed by the gadget player’s versatility at multiple positions, others immediately questioned if crowning him a future star signal-caller was premature.

“Even if we grant the premise that Taysom Hill was the ‘Best player on the field’ in that game, it was one game in a role he would never be used in as a starting QB,” CBS Sports’ Chris Towers said. “He’s gonna be 30 this year, and we have zero evidence he can be an effective passer.”

But Glazer has been a longtime believer in Hill, whom he views as a franchise quarterback in the making and has drawn parallels to Jackson, the reigning NFL MVP, in the past.

“[The Saints] do have their quarterback of the future on the roster, too — that quarterback will be Taysom Hill,” he said on “The Herd” on Jan. 27. “Taysom, they believe, is a franchise quarterback, and especially you’ve seen what Lamar Jackson has been able to do, so they think they have him here.”

Ahead of Super Bowl 2020, Hill, who was a restricted free agent at the time told the Associated Press that he “definitely” views himself as “a franchise quarterback” and seemed willing to leave New Orleans if the Saints did not have reciprocal feelings.

The Saints eventually applied a first-round tender on the former undrafted free agent before signing him to a two-year, $21 million contract extension with $16 million guaranteed in April. They also signed former Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston, 26, to a one-year, $1 million deal, whom some speculate could overtake Hill as Brees’ understudy.

“No, it’s not a smokescreen,” Glazer said. “He likes him that much, he’ll be the guy. He’s with the perfect coach for that.”

The BYU product, who turns 30 this August, was claimed off waivers by the Saints in 2017. According to ESPN’s Mike Clay, Payton has deployed Hill on 466 career snaps, of which just 24 percent were taken at quarterback. He has completed just 7 of 15 passes for 169 yards zero touchdowns and one interception.

The remaining 356 snaps were distributed as follows: 31 percent at tight end, 22 percent from the slot, 15 percent as an outside receiver and 8% at running back.

“The whole team loves him, not just Sean Payton,” Glazer said. “Watch a Saints game. When he’s in the game, watch the other players on the sideline, watch their reaction. They all get up and stand on the sidelines to watch him.”