Saints Insider Says Tyler Shough 'Will Basically Be Handed' QB1 Job Over Rattler

All eyes will be on the quarterback position during training camp for the New Orleans Saints after Derek Carr's retirement, but it reportedly might not be much of a competition between Tyler Shough and Spencer Rattler.

Larry Holder of The Athletic reported Monday that Shough "will basically be handed the starting job" even if the coaching staff will not publicly commit to such a declaration this early in the process.

This isn't particularly surprising, as there is a level of urgency with the Louisville product that there typically isn't for rookies.

After all, he turns 26 years old in September, so he doesn't have as much time to learn and adjust to the game's highest level during what figure to be his peak seasons of production.

In May, Saints head coach Kellen Moore told reporters the plan was to give Shough, Rattler and Jake Haener an opportunity to earn the starting role. Still, the team surely didn't take Shough in the second round of this draft just for him to sit behind unproven players like Rattler and Haener for long.

Rattler is 0-6 as a starter and has four touchdown passes to five interceptions in his career, while Haener is 0-1 as a starter and has thrown just 39 passes in the NFL. As for Shough, he completed 62.7 percent of his passes for 3,195 yards, 23 touchdowns and six interceptions in his final season with Louisville.

Whoever wins the starting job will be thrown into the fire quickly.

New Orleans opens the 2025 campaign with three straight games against NFC foes in the Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks before a road showdown against a potential Super Bowl contender in the Buffalo Bills.

A slow start from Shough could put the Saints in comeback mode for the rest of the season with an 0-4 or 1-3 record, which would only dial up the pressure on the rookie.

Still, it seems like he is going to have the chance to avoid that slow start and perhaps earn some important victories right away given the latest report.