Saints quarterback Jake Haener revealed that he has a rare skin cancer on Friday.
Haener, a 2023 fourth-round pick by New Orleans, said the condition is not life-threatening and that he is set to undergo an examination next week to determine a treatment plan.
“For my age, it’s kind of rare that it pops up like that,” Haener said, according to the Saints’ official website. “I’m trying to get that evaluated with our training staff.
“I have a consultation with doctors [on] Aug. 1, on our off day, to try to figure out how long I can wait, because I have to get a different procedure done on my face. So we’re just kind of trying to take the necessary steps to see how long I can wait until I have to get that procedure done.”
Haener said he noticed an “odd-looking bump” about a week or two before training camp kicked off and had it removed by a dermatologist.
The 25-year-old signal-caller is competing with Spencer Rattler, a 2024 fifth-round pick out of South Carolina, and Nathan Peterman for the Saints’ backup quarterback job behind starter Derek Carr.
Haener appeared to be in good spirits despite the scary diagnosis.
“I feel like I’m young and healthy to have something like that pop-up, but I want to take care of it and I want to be responsible about it,” he said. “And obviously not make it a distraction, because I’m going to be fine, everything is going to be taken care of.
“But I don’t want to wait too long with something like this, and I want to get a handle [on it]. The organization has been great with communicating with me and setting things up to make sure I’m healthy.”