July always brings a fresh wave of hope around the NFL, and the Saints are riding right in the middle of it.
New Orleans is coming off a 6-11 season, its third losing year in the past four, and the club has now missed the playoffs five straight times. That’s the backdrop. Still, some league observers are looking at the Saints as a team that could jump from worst to first in the NFC South, and there are a few reasons that buzz has real footing.
The biggest one sits under center.
Tyler Shough, the No. 40 overall pick in the 2025 draft, has given the Saints something they’ve badly needed in a quarterback-driven league: the possibility of a franchise player. He’s only started nine games, so there’s plenty of reason to keep the brakes on, but the early signs have been strong.
Shough has looked more confident and more comfortable in Kellen Moore’s offense, and he’s also stepped into the leadership role the Saints wanted from him. He has helped pull the locker room in his direction, and for New Orleans, that matters as much as any throw he makes.
The front office has clearly acted like it believes in him. This offseason, the Saints added pieces designed to make the passing game more flexible and more dangerous.
Travis Etienne brings a true every-down, multi-purpose threat out of the backfield. Noah Fant and rookie Oscar Delp join Juwan Johnson in a tight end group that looks far more capable than a year ago.
On the outside, rookies Jordyn Tyson, Bryce Lance and Barron Brown bring speed and playmaking ability to the receiver room. And up front, veteran left guard David Edwards was brought in to help solve a lingering issue on the left side and clean up protection on Shough’s blind side.
Put it together, and the offense looks different. More versatile.
More open. More dynamic in Year 2 under Moore.
There’s also a quiet area where the Saints may have made a real jump: special teams. Last season, it was a mess. This year, the additions of punter Ryan Wright and kicker Tanner Brown should stabilize two of the weakest spots on the roster.
Wright is expected to be an immediate upgrade and could give New Orleans its first top 10 punter since Thomas Morstead’s run from 2009 to 2020. Brown may be even more intriguing.
He arrived after a strong tryout last month, and his résumé stands out: he was the United Football League’s Special Teams Player of the Year and became the first kicker in pro football history to make two field goals from 60 or more yards in a game this season. He’s not just in camp to take some reps off Charlie Smythe.
Brown has a real shot to beat him out and claim the job on the final 53-man roster.
Defensively, the Saints are also banking on Chase Young to give them a full season of the player he can be when he’s right. Young is the most talented defender on the roster and might be the most talented player on the team.
He closed last season strong, finishing with a career-high 10 sacks in just 12 games, and he’s looked terrific all offseason. Brandon Staley’s 3-4 scheme has fit him well, and the Saints are expecting him to take on a major leadership role up front.
The catch is the same one that has followed him for years: health. Young has played a full season only once in his six-year NFL career. But if he can stay on the field, the ceiling is obvious.
Finally, there’s the simple advantage of continuity. After a foundational 2025 season, Moore kept almost the entire coaching staff together for 2026, with Jahri Evans the only departure, leaving for Pittsburgh.
That kind of carryover is rare in the NFL, and it matters. The Saints were able to hold onto key voices like Staley and the rest of the staff, and that stability has shown up in practice, where players look more comfortable and more confident in both systems.
For a team trying to turn the page, that’s not a small thing.
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Now the battle gets more complicated, because Kilty is trying to carve out a place on an offensive line the Saints spent the offseason trying to strengthen. He brings a solid college rsum from North Dakota and Kansas State, but camp is where that background has to turn into proof, and for Kilty the next few weeks will go a long way toward showing whether he can stick when the competition tightens. [Read more 🡒]