The New Orleans Saints don't have a set answer at quarterback for the 2025 season. They have options, sure, but are those options ones that inspire much confidence in the team? Dan Graziano of ESPN would answer "No" to that question and had a question of his own regarding the Saints' quarterback situation -- "Is this a real QB1 competition?"
"When the Saints drafted Tyler Shough in the second round and then Derek Carr retired a few months later, it certainly was fair to assume Shough would be in line to take over as the starter. And he absolutely might be the QB1. But there are people in the Saints' building who like Spencer Rattler and want to give him a chance to compete with Shough for the starting job. And so far this offseason, Rattler has shown improvement over his poor 2024 rookie performance.
As of now, expect the Saints to set up training camp as a true competition between Shough and Rattler. Could Shough have the edge as the player the new coaching staff drafted with the 40th pick? Absolutely. But it doesn't sound like anything is already a done deal."
Nothing Graziano said here should shock or upset Saints fans. Maybe Tyler Shough will win the starting job. Maybe Spencer Rattler has improved enough and pries it away from the rookie. Truly anything could happen this summer at the quarterback position for the Saints.
Saints fans should be prepared for a bumpy ride at quarterback in 2025
There's a reason the Saints have been picked to only win a handful of games in 2025 and it's because of their bleak outlook at the quarterback position. If a team doesn't have an experienced and reliable option at quarterback, it's going to be hard for them to win games. That's just a fact.
The Saints' most experienced quarterback on the roster is a guy who played in seven games last year and threw four touchdowns and five interceptions (talking about Rattler, of course). The team obviously has high hopes for Shough, opting to use an early second-round pick on the Louisville product but he's battled injuries throughout his college career and spent time at three different schools before entering the draft.
It'd be wonderful if Shough surprised people and went on to ball out, win Offensive Rookie of the Year and lead the Saints to a playoff spot. While that could happen, it does feel unlikely given how rare it is for a rookie quarterback to be in total command so early in his career.
The more realistic scenario here is that the Saints struggle mightily but hopefully, Shough, or whoeveer wins the starting job, shows enough improvement that the organization can feel comfortable with them continuing to be the quarterback moving forward. Either way, Graziano was in the right to criticize the situation because it could be a pretty rough year for the quarterbacks in New Orleans.