Tyler Shough's Breakout Sparks Early Saints Free Agency Buzz

The New Orleans Saints had their most optimistic game of the season in Week 10 when they took on the Carolina Panthers.

That week in general was long. The trade deadline was at the beginning of the week and the Saints traded away Rashid Shaheed and Trevor Penning. The week was full of chatter about the guys being dealt away and others that could've -- or should've -- followed. There was a lot of doom-and-gloom chatter, but the Saints then responded with a 17-7 win over the Panthers led by a breakout performance from rookie quarterback Tyler Shough.

The rookie had 282 passing yards and two touchdowns. Chris Olave was the top pass-catcher with 104 yards on five catches and a touchdown. After a tough week, it was the exact type of performance that Shough and the team needed to have before a bye week.

The buzz around the organization has already started to shift from how to use a top pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, to Shough potentially being the long-term fit. That's how quickly things change in the NFL. There's a different level of confidence if the quarterback is right. For example,