With Tyler Shough already settled in as the Saints’ starter after taking over in mid-2025, the real preseason fight in New Orleans is happening one spot down the depth chart. Kellen Moore’s toughest offensive decision heading into training camp is whether to keep both Zach Wilson and Spencer Rattler, or trim the room before Week 1.
The Saints created the showdown in March 2026 when they signed Wilson to a one-year deal to join Rattler, who is entering his third year in the league. That move turned the backup job into one of the more interesting roster battles on the team, and it leaves New Orleans weighing whether to carry three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster or move on from one of them.
Rattler has the edge of familiarity. He has already taken his lumps over 14 starts across two seasons, and his 1-13 record as a starter doesn’t look pretty on paper.
Even so, he handled being benched for Shough in late 2025 with the kind of maturity that drew praise from the coaching staff. He’s also the cheaper option, under contract through 2027 on a mid-round rookie deal, and he already has a full year of mental reps in Moore’s system.
But there’s a ceiling question hanging over him. The Saints clearly liked enough of what they saw to bring in another quarterback this spring, which suggests they may not view Rattler as a locked-in long-term QB2.
Wilson brings a different kind of appeal. The former No. 2 overall pick is still just 26, and his path through New York and Miami has been rocky.
Still, he comes with 33 games of NFL starting experience and the kind of arm talent that keeps teams interested. In a Moore offense built to help quarterbacks, Wilson’s strength and ability to create off script could matter if he’s called on in a short emergency stretch.
The flip side is the same old issue: inconsistency and turnovers have followed him throughout his career. On a one-year prove-it contract, he looks more like a short-term insurance policy than a player the Saints are building around.
Earlier this month, the sense was that New Orleans would lean toward Rattler’s system familiarity over Wilson’s pedigree. That view has softened a bit since then. The emergency third-quarterback rule makes keeping three passers on the active roster more realistic than it used to be, but the Saints and Moore are still likely to pick one and move on from the other.
However it shakes out, the quarterback who ends up holding the clipboard behind Shough will have real pressure on him to keep pace in Moore’s new offense.
In Other News...
Saints Finally Addressed A Disaster Fans Have Been Dreading
The Saints spent much of the offseason trying to clean up a phase of the game that was a weekly headache last year, and they have finally put real resources into it. New Orleans signed former Vikings punter Ryan Wright to a four-year deal, then used a sixth-round pick on LSU return specialist Barion Brown, a pair of moves aimed at giving the roster more stability and more juice on special teams after a season that left too many hidden-yardage problems on the table.
There is still more to sort out before the unit feels settled, though. The Saints also brought in Tanner Brown to push Charlie Smyth, which adds another layer to a competition that could shape field position, scoring chances and overall confidence in a part of the game that was far too often a liability. For a team that watched special teams become a drag, the next few months should say plenty about whether these fixes are enough. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Suddenly Have A New Cornerback Situation To Watch
Late-summer roster moves do not always register right away, but Martin Emerson Jr. is the kind of addition that can change the conversation in a secondary. The Saints brought him in for depth, but the appeal goes beyond that, because the former corner still carries starting-caliber upside if he is healthy and ready to show it in camp.
Bill Barnwell even labeled the deal a shrewd signing, and the appeal is obvious: Emersons injury depressed his market, giving New Orleans a chance to add a player with real upside at a bargain price. If he comes back well, he could make this more than a depth story and turn it into a real competition with Quincy Riley for a starting job opposite Kool-Aid McKinstry. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Could Make A Few Painful Veteran Cuts Very Soon
The Saints are heading toward one of the tougher parts of preseason roster trimming, and a few familiar veteran names are suddenly in the mix. Depth charts can change quickly this time of year, but New Orleans has real decisions to make as it sorts through players who have been part of the rotation and now find themselves fighting to stick.
Davon Godchaux is in a particularly tricky spot as the Saints weigh their options at nose tackle in a 3-4 front, while Pete Werner has to hold off other linebackers and manage health concerns at the same time. Even beyond those position battles, the bigger question is how much patience the Saints want to show with veterans whose roster status will come down to how they look in the preseason and what kind of move the team wants to make at the deadline. [Read more 🡒]