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New Orleans Saints 2025 NFL Season Preview and Picks: Kellen Moore Has a Tough Quarterback Decision to Make

Photo of Scott Kacsmar Scott Kacsmar18/08/2025 - 10:39 am
METAIRIE, LOUISIANA - JULY 24: Chris Olave #12 of the New Orleans Saints looks on from the field during a training camp practice at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center on July 24, 2025 in Metairie, Louisiana.
(Photo by Derick E. Hingle/Getty Images)

The New Orleans Saints have fallen on some hard times, the kind you’d expect when an NFL team loses the best quarterback (Drew Brees) and coach (Sean Payton) they ever had. But the Saints delayed some of the losing thanks to an expensive, aging roster full of veterans that may have even made the playoffs in 2023 if not for a missed field goal in Green Bay.

There were some reasons to be cautiously optimistic about the Saints going into the 2024 season. But after a 2-0 start where they scored 91 points, injuries quickly set in and derailed the season. That 2-0 start became a 2-7 start, and head coach Dennis Allen was fired for it.

Now, the Saints truly do enter a rebuilding year with a rookie coach (Kellen Moore) and they drafted rookie quarterback Tyler Shough in the second round to much surprise. Hell, you know things are starting over when backup utility player Taysom Hill has your highest cap hit at just south of $18 million for the 2025 season.

The expectations are super low this year with sportsbooks giving the Saints (tied with Cleveland) the lowest Super Bowl LX odds (+40000 at FanDuel). They could probably add a ‘0’ in there and it still wouldn’t be worth it.

But tale as old as time – and almost as old as Tyler Shough – many of the greatest turnarounds in NFL history started with the arrival of a new coach and quarterback. Let’s look back at the end of the Derek Carr era, the other changes in New Orleans this year, and the best Saints picks for 2025.

Previously on SAINTS: From Hope to Nope to a New Pope

In hindsight, the 2024 Saints’ 2-0 start was probably a mirage built on some big play-action passes and taking advantage of some less-than-stellar opponents like the Panthers and Cowboys with the latter trailing by 20-plus points in every home game to start the year.

But it felt like it could be believable after the hot 4-1 finish to 2023 for the offense. Still, all it took were some blown leads against the Eagles and Falcons for the Saints to fall back to 2-2, then quarterback Derek Carr was injured in Kansas City, his former nemesis, in a 26-13 loss.

We got to see rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler before we wanted to, and his throw put Chris Olave in a tough spot for a concussion that knocked him out of action against Tampa Bay, a game the Saints lost 51-27 at home. New Orleans also lost No. 2 receiver Rashid Shaheed, a big part of their explosive plays. While the defense was much healthier than the offense, it regressed and wasn’t able to carry the team.

After the losing streak reached seven games, Dennis Allen was fired and replaced by interim coach Darren Rizzi, which led to jokes that even the late Pope Francis was happy as he kept accidentally using the hashtag for the NFL team.

Carr returned in Week 9, and there was a point where the Saints had a 3-1 run, but they were also beating the likes of the Browns and Giants. Carr’s last game was Week 14 against New York as he never played another down after a shoulder injury. In fact, it was discovered in March 2025 that Carr’s shoulder would require surgery and likely missing the 2025 season. So, he decided to retire, closing one of the more peculiar careers in NFL history as one of the most prolific passers to never win a playoff game.

One of Carr’s strengths was supposed to be pulling games out in the fourth quarter, but the Saints registered zero fourth-quarter comeback wins in the 2023 or 2024 seasons – the only team in the NFL without such a win in this time.

After their bye, the 2024 Saints finished 1-5, never scoring 20 points again. They finished 5-12, Rizzi took a special teams job with the Broncos, and Carr had his retirement in March.

Now, there’s a new coach, a new quarterback, and even a new Pope in the Vatican. But he’s a Bears fan.

New Orleans Saints Offseason Review

The Saints have a rookie coach and his new staff to contend with. They have the NFC’s worst quarterback battle to decide before Week 1, but at least they have some uncertainty on their side as their young quarterbacks could be a surprise in Moore’s offense.

That’s the dream, right? A Super Bowl-winning offensive coordinator becomes the next great offensive whiz. But even in a winnable division, Moore has his work cut out for him.

Profiling Kellen Moore for the Saints

For those of us of a certain age, our first exposure to Kellen Moore was when he was the quarterback at Boise State where he was 49-3 as a starter on that blue turf. No, he wasn’t the one who threw the hook-and-lateral play in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl to help eventually beat Oklahoma in overtime – that was Jared Zabransky.

But Moore helped continue the winning at Boise and was considered a smart, clutch player without the physical attributes (height and arm strength) to make it in the NFL at quarterback. He went undrafted in 2012, and he made his only appearances for the 2015 Cowboys, including a regular-season finale where he threw for 435 yards and 3 touchdowns in a loss against Washington.

Coaching was likely always going to be his future in football, and that experience with Dallas helped him get hired on the coaching staff in 2018, serving as the quarterbacks coach to Dak Prescott and others under head coach Jason Garrett. Moore moved up to offensive coordinator in 2019, and over the next four seasons, he produced results with the Cowboys twice leading the NFL in yards gained.

He helped Prescott become a much more prolific passer, but Prescott was also injured in 2020, and the Cowboys had no answers for the San Francisco defense in playoff losses in 2021-22.

In 2023, Moore took the offensive coordinator job with the Los Angeles Chargers and a chance to coach Justin Herbert. The results were mixed as the Chargers had some of the most prolific rushing and passing games of Herbert’s career there, so Moore showed he could attack in a variety of ways. But with a bad defense and injuries to Herbert, Mike Williams, and Keenan Allen, the Chargers finished 5-12 and wasted five go-ahead drives in the fourth quarter from Moore’s offense, a single-season record.

Moore still wasn’t getting enough head-coaching consideration in the NFL, so he took another offensive coordinator job with the Eagles in 2024, getting to work with Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, an elite offensive line, and immediately incorporating a back like Saquon Barkley, who rushed for the most yards ever in a season when you combine the playoffs.

The result was a Super Bowl win with the Eagles scoring 95 points in the NFC Championship Game and Super Bowl against the Commanders and Chiefs. Philadelphia’s defense no doubt deserves the most appreciation there as that unit came the longest way from 2023 and really led the way, but Moore did what he needed to and got the job done.

That’s why he’s got the top job with the Saints now.

How Kellen Moore Should Help the Saints’ Offense

When you look at Moore’s body of work as the offensive coordinator of three NFL teams, you see someone with a flexible, adaptive system that will cater to the talent he has instead of forcing square pegs into round holes. That’s easier to do when you have the talent he had in his other spots, but chances are he’ll find the right roles for what the Saints have to work with.

The Saints hired Doug Nussmeier as their offensive coordinator. While he’s 54 (17 years older than Moore), he’s basically been Moore’s understudy, having followed him every step of the way since 2018 from Dallas to Los Angeles to Philadelphia to New Orleans. Let’s hope this means they’re great friends and work well together. Nussmeier was actually a quarterback for the Saints in 1994-97, and his son Garrett is the starter at LSU.

But this should be Moore’s show, and if there’s one common trait throughout all of his offenses, it’s that he knows how to feed his No. 1 receiver the ball:

  • 2019 Cowboys: Amari Cooper had 79 catches, 1,189 yards, and 8 touchdowns
  • 2020 Cowboys: Amari Cooper had 92 catches, 1,114 yards, and 5 touchdowns
  • 2021 Cowboys: CeeDee Lamb had 79 catches, 1,102 yards, and 6 touchdowns
  • 2022 Cowboys: CeeDee Lamb had 107 catches, 1,359 yards, and 9 touchdowns
  • 2023 Chargers: Keenan Allen had 108 catches, 1,243 yards, and 7 touchdowns (in 13 games)
  • 2024 Eagles: A.J. Brown had 67 catches, 1,079 yards, and 7 touchdowns (in 13 games)

An A.J. Brown injury was the only thing stopping the streak of 1,100-yard receivers for Moore. That’s not to say Chris Olave will have 1,100 yards this year because of the decline the Saints are having at quarterback, but he should be heavily featured as the Saints’ best weapon in this offense, and he had 1,042 and 1,123 yards in his first two seasons before concussions limited him to 400 yards in 8 games last year.

Chris Olave #12 of the New Orleans Saints
(Photo by Derick E. Hingle/Getty Images)

If these young quarterbacks can avoid the hospital balls to these talented wideouts, the Saints can make plays all over the field as Shaheed’s speed puts him on par with someone like DeVonta Smith from Philly. The Saints also brought Brandin Cooks back, and while he’s past his prime, he could still be helpful as a WR3. The team also re-signed tight end Juwan Johnson.

Alvin Kamara returns at running back, and oddly enough, he had a career-high 950 rushing yards in 2024 despite the team’s terrible quarterback situation and the trailing. He’s a 30-year-old running back, which is like saying a 50-year-old actress in Hollywood, but maybe Moore can help him build on last year’s success and he’s still a reliable receiver out of the backfield. The Saints also have Kendre Miller and signed Cam Akers, the former Rams/Vikings back.

Look, we know the offense was really injured last year. In fact, wide receivers Cedrick Wilson Jr. (35.3%), Mason Tipton (32.9%), Marquez Valdes-Scantling (31.0%), and Kevin Austin (29.7%) all played a higher percentage of offensive snaps than Olave (29.0%) and Shaheed (26.3%) did in 2024.

But let’s not forget the offensive line also fell apart. Center Erik McCoy is the most-tenured player of that group since 2019, and he only played in seven games last year. Right guard Cesar Ruiz missed four games early in the season during the losing streak.

The Saints have now invested four first-round picks into their offensive line with new left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. (Texas) taking over as the No. 9 pick. They just used last year’s first-round pick on right tackle Taliese Fuaga, who will hopefully show improvement in Year 2 in a new offense. Then it’s just a matter of getting the most out of the interior with McCoy, Ruiz, and Trevor Penning. Penning is battling turf toe and has to get better in every way.

Taysom Hill tore his ACL in Week 13 last year, so his return is unknown. So is his role as Moore may not be as enamored as Sean Payton and Allen were with the Swiss Army Knife. But he could be a useful player again when healthy.

It’s not a poor offense for a quarterback to step into by any means. It’s not what Philadelphia has, but who really compares right now? Alas, it’s the quarterback competition in New Orleans that has people souring on things even if Moore has pieces to work with around the quarterback.

That Pesky Quarterback Competition for the Saints

The one nice thing about signing Derek Carr, even with all of his flaws, was that you at least knew he’d be your starter. Now, the Saints enter 2025 with a quarterback battle between second-year player Spencer Rattler and second-round rookie Tyler Shough. Short of Anthony Richardson vs. Daniel Jones in Indianapolis, this might be the bleakest quarterback competition in the NFL today.

Derek Carr #4 of the New Orleans Saints looks on during a preseason game at Caesars Superdome on August 13, 2023 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

But Richardson and Jones have multiple years of NFL disappointment on their resumes. Between Rattler and Shough, they have 6 real NFL starts under their belts combined. That element of surprise (or potential) is at least interesting enough to give them a chance to succeed before writing them off.

Think of Rattler as the poor man’s Patrick Mahomes. Okay, the poorest man you know. He’s mobile, but he likely lacks the touch or consistency to deliver the ball as a weekly starter. Rattler got the best of Shough in Sunday’s second preseason game after he led a game-tying touchdown and 2-point conversion drive in the final minute of a 17-17 tie. Rattler was 18-of-24 for 199 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception, and the nice 2-point conversion run.

Meanwhile, the offense didn’t find the end zone once with Shough, who was 9-of-12 for 66 yards. Last week in his NFL debut, Shough threw a pick-six against the Chargers, but he also made up for it by throwing a long touchdown pass.

Moore insists the quarterback competition is very much open here, but let’s consider some facts:

  • Rattler was just a fifth-round pick last year, a low investment, and this new coaching staff has no ties or allegiance to him.
  • Shough was the 40th pick in the draft, and he’s shown he can adapt to multiple new systems after starting for Oregon, Texas Tech, and last year at Louisville in his long college career.
  • Shough isn’t as mobile as Rattler, but he’s not a statue either, and he has prototypical size at 6’5”.
  • Shough already turns 26 in September, making him one of the oldest rookies, and that usually hasn’t gone well in NFL history.

It wouldn’t be unprecedented for a fifth-round pick to start for his team in Year 2. The Washington Commanders just did it in 2023 with Sam Howell, though we’d rather not mention how poorly that ended up going.

Rattler probably is further along in his development than Shough right now, and it wouldn’t be the worst decision to go with him in Week 1. But given their difference in draft capital and Shough’s age, it wouldn’t be surprising if the rookie gets the start in Week 1. It’d be even less surprising if we saw both quarterbacks start games this season in New Orleans.

It’s not a competition anyone is running away with.

Defense: The Return of Brandon Staley

We can’t deny there’s familiarity in the coaching staff this year, even if the dynamics are a bit weird. Not only has the new offensive coordinator been following Moore around for years, but new defensive coordinator Brandon Staley hired Moore as his OC with the Chargers in 2023 before Staley was fired.

Staley was viewed as this Fourth-Down Renaissance Man in 2021 when the Chargers hired him. Soon, we found out he’s actually pretty conservative and not that great of a head coach. After the Chargers fired him, he spent last year as an assistant to Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers, and let’s hope that wasn’t the reason they kept blowing leads in the fourth quarter.

But Staley is back as defensive coordinator, the role he had his most success at with the 2020 Rams under Sean McVay. That’s why it has to be a little weird to be working under Moore when the roles were reversed just a mere two seasons ago in LA. But in a perfect world, Moore must be thinking Staley can have a Vic Fangio-level impact on his defense as Staley coached under Fangio in Denver and sees defense in a similar fashion to Philly’s guru who helped Moore to his ring in February.

Like Moore on offense, Staley will adapt to the talent on his defense and play a variety of coverages that best suit the roster. He’ll generally use light boxes to stop the run and prioritize pass defense. The Saints were 31st against the run in 2024, so that may not change much this year. But if it leads to more takeaways and better numbers against the pass, that’s a trade-off Staley deems worthy, and he’s probably not wrong about that.

But the Saints are relying on an older defense, and that’s still true after safety Tyrann Mathieu, the Honey Badger, announced his retirement. They still have Cam Jordan up front, but at 36, he’s more of a situational pass rusher at this point. The Saints brought in Jonathan Bullard (Vikings) for some edge-rushing depth, but it’s more about Staley trying to unlock the full potential of former first-round picks like Chase Young and Bryan Bresee up front.

Davon Godchaux comes over at defensive tackle from the Patriots in a trade. The linebackers are led by Demario Davis, another 36-year-old vet on this unit. But he’s generally done an incredible job of staying healthy and still racks up over 100 tackles every season.

With the top two picks spent on offense, the Saints used their third-round selections on Texas defensive tackle Vernon Broughton and Virginia safety Jonas Sanker. Neither projects as a starter this year after the team signed veteran safeties Justin Reid (Chiefs) and Julian Blackmon (Colts), decent players who can replace Mathieu.

At corner, the Saints traded Marshon Lattimore to Washington last season, so this will be their first full season without him. Defenses picked on Alontae Taylor a lot last year, but hopefully Kool-Aid McKinstry can have a bigger Year 2 after averaging 7.3 yards per target allowed in coverage as a rookie.

It doesn’t have the makings of a great defense with no proven stud in the secondary, some leaders closer to 40 than 30 in the front seven, and those first-round picks on the defensive line haven’t hit as expected after multiple seasons. But it’d be hard for things to get any worse than last year.

Best Bets for the 2025 Saints   

No team has a lower preseason win total than the Saints at 4.5 games. The NFC South hasn’t produced an 11-win team since 2021, so the division is not viewed as one of the strongest around, but the other three teams all look further ahead in their development than the Saints at this point, largely because of that unknown quarterback situation.

The main question is can we find a handful of wins on that schedule for the Saints this year?

  • Getting a split with the Falcons or Panthers is always possible with this team as it did so to both last year.
  • The first Atlanta game is Week 12 in New Orleans after the bye week too, so that might be the best opportunity for a home division win.
  • Opening at home with Arizona in Week 1 is a winnable game even if the Cardinals have better high-end talent and a far more experienced quarterback in Kyler Murray, but it’s not like he’s known for winning games.
  • The Saints host both New York teams with the Giants (Week 5) and Jets (Week 16) coming to the Superdome, though the Giants have had success in this building and the Jets should be better defensively.
  • The Saints will face a lot of young quarterbacks with Caleb Williams (Bears), Drake Maye (Patriots), and Cam Ward (Titans) all tentatively on the schedule to say nothing of four games against Michael Penix Jr. (Falcons) and Bryce Young (Panthers) in the division.

It’s hardly one of the toughest schedules this year, but Moore would probably deserve Coach of the Year if he pulled out a winning record with this team. Without much faith in Rattler/Shough, it’s hard to project the Saints to repeat last year’s 5-12 record even if the schedule presents some opportunities for that. Remember, this team was 3-12 in its last 15 games.

If the Saints had a better rookie prospect at quarterback, then maybe you could argue some regression with defensive takeaways and a few comebacks in the fourth quarter would help this team easily clear over 4.5 wins. Have to imagine the Saints fans will have a keen eye on what happens with Shedeur Sanders in Cleveland as the Saints were one of the top teams, maybe the No. 1 team, that could have drafted him but chose not to several times over.

But we’re going to side with doubt this year and take the under 4.5 wins, and we’ll also gladly take that over for Chris Olave’s receiving yards as the best weapon in this offense.

  • NFL Pick: New Orleans Saints under 4.5 wins (+110) at FanDuel
  • NFL Pick: Chris Olave over 825.5 receiving yards (-110) at bet365

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Photo of Scott Kacsmar Scott Kacsmar18/08/2025 - 10:39 am