The belief around the New Orleans Saints going into the 2026 season is higher than any season since Drew Brees retired. There's a few reasons for that, and it all revolves around Tyler Shough and Kellen Moore going into their second season together.
With all of the belief around the organization, optimistic was the easy choice for Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon when looking for one word to describe the Saints ahead of the season. "This one could obviously be applied to many teams, but it fits the Saints best," Gagnon wrote.
Though it's year 2 for Moore and Shough in New Orleans, Gagnon pointed to the fact that it's their first full season together as coach and starting quarterback. They were able to find success in limited time last season. The hope is to continue the hot streak from the end of the year while also growing within their roles.
Why wouldn't the Saints be optimistic going into the year?
There's three reasons teams in the Saints' position would be this optimistic going into a season. Either they feel they found their franchise quarterback, they finished the previous season strong or they had an impactful offseason. The Saints have all three.
The first two pieces fall in together. The strong close to last season is the reason fans feel confident they found their franchise quarterback. The pieces around Shough just kept dropping. Running backs kept getting hurt one by one until the Saints had to grab Audric Estime off the practice squad to close the season.
Shough infamously had to throw to receivers in the season finale who weren't in the Saints' plans at all to start the season. Still, he suceeded.
A lot of young quarterbacks need everything to go right for them to succeed early, but Shough showed he isn't in that group. He found a way to be productive and win in less than ideal circumstances.
It wasn't just players getting hurt. Shough was frequently knocked off his spot in the pocket and had to make plays out of structure. He showed poise and the ability to elevate talent as the Saints went 4-1 in the last five games of the season.
After Shough's ascension and the team's fast finish, the Saints added Travis Etienne Jr., David Edwards and Jordyn Tyson around Shough and Kaden Elliss and Christen Miller on defense. The addition of Ryan Wright is a massive addition that won't get a lot of attention this deep in the offseason because he's a punter.
The Saints have added to their biggest weakness on offense and defense. They upgraded the top of the receiver room, while also adding depth to the unit. Miller should give them a much better run defense than they had a year ago.
The Saints added a lot of high upside players, some proven and some rookies. The result of the moves is uncertain right now, but it's more than enough to create optimism
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