What is the New Orleans Saints’ Ceiling in 2025?

New head coach Kellen Moore and the staff used the 40th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft on Louisville QB, Tyler Shough, who is widely considered to be the most pro-ready QB in the draft class. This title comes from the offensive scheme he ran under Jeff Brohm at Louisville, one that used some of the most play-action and pre-snap motion in college football. 

A new head coach hand-picking his franchise QB at the high pick of 40 typically means he is set to be the starter, but Saints second-year QB Spencer Rattler is going to make the QB decision tough for Moore and the coaching staff. 

So far in OTAs, we have seen fierce competition between Shough and Rattler, one that is entertaining both fans and media alike.

There has not been as close a QB battle for this Saints franchise in quite some time. The last true “battle” was between Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill back in 2021, after the retirement of Drew Brees. Albeit, this wasn’t necessarily a fair battle, as Winston was considered the automatic starter from the jump. 

In this new competition between Shough and Rattler, you have an interesting situation in which you have an inexperienced high draft pick battling against a QB who already has a year of NFL experience under his belt. 

CONCERNS REGARDING RATTLER

Rattler, some would say, was not given a “fair” shot to prove his skills in 2024. He started six games for New Orleans and was playing alongside a cast of backups. Aside from proven WR Marques Valdez-Scantling, Rattler’s receiving corps for his starts consisted of Bub Means, Dante Pettis, and Mason Tipton. Respectfully, those aren’t exactly pro-bowlers catching for him.

This, mixed with an injury-riddled offensive line and third-worst-ranked defense in the league, brought the Saints to a 0-6 record under Rattler. Although the team saw little success under Rattler’s leadership, there wasn’t much of a “team” to help elevate his play. 

Despite this, Rattler flashed greatness in some moments last season. Perhaps his most “shocking” play was this jump pass against the Green Bay Packers on 3rd and 17, for which Rattler threw the ball mid-air under pressure to Dante Pettis for the first down.  

Even though Rattler has shown promise so far, it is ultimately Shough’s starting job to lose, purely based on the draft capital spent on him by Moore.

ADDITIONS 

Outside of QB, the Saints team heading into 2025 is largely the same as we saw at the end of the 2024 season. 

A few key additions would include new OT Kelvin Banks Jr., familiar face Brandin Cooks, and safety Justin Reid. Banks provides the offensive line the stability it hasn’t seen since Ryan Ramczyk was healthy. Cooks acts as a trustworthy and capable WR3 for whoever the QB may be. And Reid is an elite safety who will be a massively productive player alongside Tyrann Mathieu.

LOSSES

Although the Saints added some key players, they also lost a few pivotal pieces.

The Saints let Valdez-Scantling walk in the offseason, an unfortunate end to his tenure in the Big Easy. For as explosive as he was, many expected the Saints to keep him on the roster. Instead, he gets to light it up with the Seattle Seahawks.

CB Paulson Adebo signed with the New York Giants earlier in the offseason. Adebo saw the CB2 position and was CB1 when Lattimore was traded to the Washington Commanders. He was incredibly productive at the position, and although listed as the second CB on the team, he was largely considered one of the best cornerbacks in the entire NFC South. Losing Adebo will be a massive blow to this Saints’ secondary.

DEFENSE

The defensive unit, at least in terms of the secondary, isn’t looking too hot on paper. The Saints lost their two best cornerbacks, and Taylor struggled to lock down the outside in 2024. To be fair, however, his natural position is at slot corner, where he excelled in his rookie season in 2023. 

Second-year CB Kool-Aid McKinstry will replace Lattimore at CB1, while Alontae Taylor will likely fill the open CB2 position, although newly returning player Isaac Yiadom could also fight for that position. 

McKinstry has only one year of NFL experience under his belt, and he sat much of it behind Lattimore, Adebo, and Taylor. He wasn’t heavily called upon until Lattimore and Adebo were injured. His inexperience and Taylor’s proven struggles are not good news for the Saints. 

As for the defensive front, things are trending upward for the Saints. They traded for DT Devon Godchaux a few months ago to bolster the run defense, which was among the worst in the league last season.

With the 71st pick in the 2025 draft, the Saints selected DT Vernon Broughton out of Tennessee. Broughton, at the very least, could prove to be a valuable run-stopper under new defensive line coach Bo Davis’ scheme. 

DE Chase Young signed a three-year extension with the Saints in March. Young had an amazing yet quiet season. He only had 5.5 sacks, but was eighth in the league in diversity and efficiency of moves. In other words, his bag runs deep when attacking an offensive lineman. Should Young add more sacks next year, the Saints’ DL could thrive under his and Carl Granderson‘s leadership. 

The Saints’ linebackers are probably the most consistent part of this team. Demario Davis has been holding down his position with elite force for countless years now, and Pete Werner has been a consistent and strong tackler and coverer throughout his career. Health is the only thing barring Werner from becoming the next great Saints LB. 

OFFENSE

Since the QB position is currently up in the air for the Saints, let’s talk about the offensive line.

With the addition of Banks, the Saints can move to a powerful-looking lineup that includes Kelvin Banks Jr., Trevor Penning, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz, and Taliese Fuaga.

This revamped line is expected to perform much better than what we saw in 2024. The run game will prosper under Alvin Kamara and Kendre Miller, while the QB should have plenty of clean pockets to pass from all season long. 

Although the Saints did lose Valdes-Scantling, they also added WR Brandin Cooks to the corps. He should be a valiant replacement for MVS alongside Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed. 

COACHING 

Here’s where things get exciting for the Saints. The entire team is in for some significant changes in 2025. Not based on personnel, but solely on coaching. This is the first time since 2005 that the Saints have zero major coaching positions filled by a Sean Payton regime member. 

Moore has come in and completely revitalized this coaching staff from back to front. Moore brings his expertise from running some of the best offenses in the league since 2020. Doug Nussmeier is the new offensive coordinator, while Brandon Staley fills the defensive coordinator position. Both sides of the ball are bound to see improvement, even with the loss of players. 

Perhaps the most influential addition to the Saints staff for 2025, however, is Ted Rath, the new Director of Sports Performance. Another personal hire by head coach Moore, Rath has a particularly clean record in keeping players healthy. He also earned high praise from Moore in his interview post-OTAs this week. This addition aims to hopefully — finally — keep the Saints team healthy once and for all. As we saw last season, when healthy, the Saints can be dangerous.

AN ERA OF CHANGE

With all the new faces in the building, it’s hard not to feel excited about the change in the franchise. We, as fans, have not seen this since 2006. Nearly twenty years of a familiar coaching staff have finally come to an end. And 2025 will be the first season we can witness the results of that.

The QB situation is the most intriguing aspect of the Saints heading into 2025. Regardless of who starts, the QB will be fun to watch. We get to see two players try and prove themselves. They get to throw to healthy faces in a new offensive scheme under new head coach Kellen Moore. The offensive line is set to be elite. Shough or Rattler will be given time to make smart decisions. Kamara and Miller will see open lanes all season to slice through defenses.

Sadly, the defense has some issues to work out. How much improvement can we expect to see under the new DC, Brandon Staley? Even with its kinks, the newly reinforced defensive front is looking to have a good year, especially in the run game. 

Change is part of the process of the rebuild. Since it is a rebuild, we should not expect the Saints to be Super Bowl contenders in 2025. Of course, that’s what we always hope for. But we can still be hopeful in a time like this, because at least now, compared to last season, we are fixing our issues one step at a time, rather than letting them accumulate and pretending they’re fine. 

CEILING? FLOOR?

The QB situation is not ideal. Although the WR corps and offensive line received reinforcements during the offseason, we do not have enough evidence from Rattler, Shough, or the secondary to safely say the Saints will win more games than they lose. This season looks eerily similar to the mid-2010s when the Saints had three consecutive seasons of 7-9 records. 

A reasonable ceiling for this Saints team, based solely on the current roster and changes the franchise has seen, is around eight wins. 

The floor can be reasonably placed at four wins. 

Regardless of what happens in 2025, Saints fans can at least know that the right decisions are finally being made towards making this team great again.

Who knows? Maybe the Saints will surprise everyone this season. With the strength of schedule being 0.419 (second-easiest in the league), and if everything lines up perfectly, it is not unbelievable to think that this team could have nine or ten wins. 

Unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world. Injuries are bound to happen. Upsets are bound to happen. And that’s why a reasonable range of wins for the Saints in 2025 is 4-8.