The New Orleans Saints have identified their quarterback of the future.
New Orleans is prepared to move forward with Tyler Shough as their starting QB for the 2026 season, Katherine Terrell of ESPN reported on Wednesday. Terrell also quoted Saints head coach Kellen Moore as saying that the team feels “great with Tyler.”
“Tyler’s done an awesome job through this entire process,” said Moore. “He’s gotten a ton better. He’s taken advantage of a bunch of opportunities. We’re excited to have a full offseason to build.”
The 26-year-old Shough was New Orleans’ second-round pick in last year’s NFL Draft (No. 40 overall). After four-time Pro Bowler Derek Carr surprisingly announced his retirement before the 2025 season, Shough lost the ensuing quarterback battle to Spencer Rattler.
But Shough ended up winning the QB1 job by Week 9 after a brutal stretch of play by Rattler. Despite the Saints’ overall roster deficiencies, Shough was a relative bright spot, going 5-4 as the starter with 2,384 passing yards, 10 passing touchdowns, and seven interceptions. Shough also added 186 more yards and three more touchdowns on the ground as New Orleans won four of their last five games of the season.
Many were skeptical when the Saints used such a high draft pick on the former Louisville QB Shough. But Shough has clearly done enough at this point to warrant a permanent place as the QB1, leaving New Orleans free to use their top-eight pick in this year’s draft on a different position of need instead.
