Can Tyler Shough thrive with Saints? Rookie QB facing long road with New Orleans' front office

The New Orleans Saints are now diving into a "youth'' movement at quarterback by elevating 2025 second-round rookie Tyler Shough to their starting quarterback spot. 

He is replacing 2024 fifth-round quarterback Spencer Rattler after Rattler lost 13 of his 14 starts, tied for the second-worst record by a quarterback in their first 14 starts since 1950. Shough subbed in for Rattler in Week 8 of the Saints' 23-3 defeat against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and he threw for 128 yards and an interception on 17 of 30 passing. Shough, the 40th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, is now primed to make his first NFL start in Week 9 at the Los Angeles Rams. He's the second-highest drafted quarterback by the Saints in the Common Draft era (since 1967) behind only Archie Manning who was selected second overall in the 1971 NFL Draft. 

The major question with Shough is obvious: will he be in any good? He's an older rookie at the age of 26 who suffered a laundry list of injuries while playing for three colleges -- Oregon (2018-2020), Texas Tech (2021-2023) and Louisville (2024). Head coach Kellen Moore should be a good fit for Shough given he served as Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott's offensive coordinator from 2019-2022 when Dallas had a stretch of three top 10 scoring offenses in four years including being No. 1 in both total and scoring offense in 2021. In his one season as the Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator in 2024, running back Saquon Barkley rushed for over 2,000 yards and won NFL Offensive Player of the Year honors en route to a Super Bowl  LIX title. On paper, he was a capable head coach to develop him.

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However, none of that will matter unless there's significant change in the front office. Mickey Loomis has been the Saints general manager for 24 seasons, since 2002, and there's no sign that owner Gayle Benson will make a move to replace him anytime soon. His roster management at the end of the Drew Brees era and into the 2020's is why New Orleans is 1-7, their worst start since 1999 and averaging 16 points per game, their worst through eight games since 2005 (15.6 points per game. That was the last season before signing Brees in free agency. Loomis again and again refuses to operate like the rebuilding team that New Orleans is by regularly restructuring veteran contracts to push cap hits into the future. That's how the Saints, despite being a rebuilding team in terms of on-field production, are projected to be $14.2 million over the salary cap in 2026, which is the third-lowest cap space figure projected for next offseason per OverTheCap.com. The only teams who have less space are the Minnesota Vikings (-$36.3 million), a team that won 14 games last year, and the Kansas City Chiefs (-$42.8 million), the first team to reach five Super Bowls in a six-season span. New Orleans truly won't have roster flexibility until the 2027 offseason because of Loomis. 

The reason New Orleans is so tight when it comes to the cap is because they have $95.4 million in dead money, per OverTheCap.com. A majority of that number is for trading cornerback Marshon Lattimore ($31.661 million) to the Washington Commanders last season while the next three largest dead cap hits are for Saints players who are no longer in the league: quarterback Derek Carr ($19.2 million), offensive lineman Ryan Ramczyk ($11.1 million) and wide receiver Michael Thomas ($9.2 million). Next season, Lattimore's dead money will be off the Saints' books, but they'll still have $62.1 million in dead money in 2026 with $36.674 million on the ledger because of Carr's contract. 

Being unable to fill out the roster for capable support along the offensive line (37.6% quarterback pressure rate allowed, 10th-worst in the NFL) and defensive line (32.8% quarterback pressure rate, 10th-worst in the NFL) will hamper any NFL team. The run blocking hasn't been any better with five-time Pro Bowl running back Alvin Kamara rushing for under 40 yards in four consecutive games, which is tied for the longest such streak in his career. 

Shough may have a fighting chance on paper with weapons like Kamara and wide receiver Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed, but it would be in his and head coach Kellen Moore's best interest to lobby for a new general manager who will be able to maximize the Saints' cap space in the future. Otherwise, Shough is doomed to join the quarterback graveyard that's been building in New Orleans since Brees' retirement after the 2020 season.