New Orleanians hear the name Spencer Rattler and immediately think of the Saints’ 5-12 record from the 2024 season — a stark contrast from the long-gone era of Drew Brees. 

Saints fans around the city of New Orleans and across the country alike wish their biggest problem were still losing to the Minnesota Vikings or the Los Angeles Rams, and even the referees in the playoffs. The days of complaint surrounding the “NOLA No-Call” and the “Minneapolis Miracle” are over. 

These days, the Saints can’t even manage a winning record, much less make the NFC Championship.  

In the 2025 NFL draft, the New Orleans Saints selected quarterback Tyler Shough out of Louisville, Kentucky with the 40th overall pick. Unorthodox picks like these can result in initial buyer’s remorse, yet turn into franchise players. Highly drafted quarterbacks are often scrutinized, with fans even rioting over future Hall of Fame picks, such as the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen and others. 

So far, in week five of the NFL season, Shough has not shown the promise of a risky second-round pick in his limited playing time. Not only is he off to a rough start, but he is 26 years old, and it doesn’t look like he has much room to improve. 

Fans had low expectations for Rattler coming into the season, and he has surpassed those expectations by being far worse than anyone could have imagined. 

The Saints are 0-4, even losing an easy matchup against the San Francisco 49ers’ second-string squad. Rattler threw for 207 yards, although a surprising 74% completion percentage kept fans from completely blaming him for the loss. 

There is a simple explanation for his performance. While Rattler is certainly not an elite QB, his positive play against non-elite teams has, in fact, shown weaknesses in other areas of the team. He is definitely not the best, but most players on the team aren’t good for their position either. 

The bright spots on the roster include wide receiver Chris Olave, center Erik McCoy and linebacker Demario Davis, who has 38 combined tackles and 18 solo tackles, a solid start for a linebacker through four games. 

Saints’ new head coach Kellen Moore helped the Philadelphia Eagles win the Super Bowl as their offensive coordinator, so he should have some knowledge of how to build a winning team. The terrible performance ultimately comes down to Rattler. 

He misses crucial, sometimes even easy passes when they matter, notably a potentially game-changing incomplete pass aimed for Brandin Cooks this Sunday against the Bills. While Rattler has clearly improved since last year by taking fewer sacks and limiting turnovers, he doesn’t possess the skills to win important games.  

That being said, it’s hard for an alright quarterback to look good passing to alright receivers. While Olave is a good receiver, he’s not Justin Jefferson. Olave can’t carry a mediocre quarterback.  

All this leads some to believe the Saints are tanking this year, which makes sense. Speculation about trading Olave strengthens this argument, but the Saints may be just having a bad season. Their accounting department is in disarray, and they may not have sufficient space under the salary cap to build a competitive team until 2027. 

Trading decent players like Olave while he is still in his prime is a viable option. Until then, Rattler needs to show more upside. It’s possible that by 2026 or even by the end of this season, he can show flashes of being a true starting quarterback, but as of now, he puts the Saints in the perfect spot to land a franchise-changing player in the 2026 draft like LaNorris Sellers or Caleb Downs. 

Only time will tell what will happen in the Saints’ quarterback room, but as of now, it does not look good.