Kellen Moore names Tyler Shough the Saints' new starting QB and naturally starts a running clock on his future with the franchise
Kellen Moore has plenty of massive choices and decisions to make for the New Orleans Saints in the coming months. The NFL trade deadline looms, and he has a roster that is currently sitting at 1-7 in the basement of the NFC South.
Alongside those issues, the young offensive guru head coach is making a notable change to his starting lineup. Enter: rookie quarterback Tyler Shough.
Tyler Shough named starting QB for the Saints amid Spencer Rattler's struggles
Spencer Rattler simply was not getting the job done in recent weeks for New Orleans. Now, his head coach has made a change, opening the door for Tyler Shough to start at quarterback for the Saints. Shough will assuredly be guaranteed some time to work out some rough edges as a first-year QB in the pros. Kellen Moore assured the media on Monday that he wasn't interested in flipping back and forth between Shough and Rattler.
With this key decision, the pressure is officially a bit different for Moore, and he is surely hoping that his players step up for him over the remainder of this season.
Shough's performance may dictate what the Saints do in round one of 2026 NFL Draft
With the starts, the rookie QB will subliminally place a bit of pressure on his head coach. If he finds early success and is able to help New Orleans unexpectedly win games down the stretch, then Moore could look at positions outside of quarterback early in next year's draft.
On the flip-side, massive struggles or clear limitations rearing their head for Shough would push Moore to look at QB - considering the Saints would probably hold a top 3-5 selection in round one. It's an incredibly tough business and reality for Shough when you consider it all.
The young QB may show glimpses of impressive play - but so did Rattler. Rattler ended up winning 1 of 14 games he started and led an offense that ranked 30th in yards per play and 29th in points per game from the time he became the starter for New Orleans. Simply put, the line had to be drawn, and that time may come with Shough only getting about half a season of opportunities to show his starting prowess.
No matter what - this decision by Moore truly starts his clock when it comes to earning trust with fans and keeping his job in the long-term. While Shough wasn't a first-round QB selection, Moore and his staff (alongside the front office) did spend the 40th overall selection on him in the 2025 NFL Draft. That's not cheap. With the state of the Saints roster, that was a legitimate price to pay for a QB with plenty of questions and concerns as a prospect.
Only time will tel how this works out for Moore and the Saints. Regardless, it gives the fans something to look forward to in the coming weeks and a rookie leader for veterans to try to rally around for now.
Ben Johnson thinks Bears can rein in new DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson
Bringing in defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, or CJ Gardner-Johnson as he is known, can lead to a volatile mix and the Bears are trying to limit this.
The franchise has experience with Gardner-Johnson as an instigator in past fights and in three seasons under Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen defenses in New Orleans he committed 21 penalties, including four for unnecessary roughness, a roughing the kicker, lowering the head to initiate contact, two unsportsmanlike conducts calls and an ejection.
His chicanery led to the ejection from games for Bears receivers Javon Wims and Anthony Miller in two 2020 meetings with the Saints, the second one a playoff game. He was also involved in making fun of Tarik Cohen's lack of height.
"D.A. knew him when he was a young player," Bears coach Ben Johnson explained. "He hasn't been with him for a number of years. And then I had a short little crossover period with him.
"We did due diligence. We talked to people he's been around recently. It was one of those moves that we felt comfortable with where we're at as a team right now, where CJ's at in his career, that it's a good fit."
Johnson acknowledges the injury situation in the secondary was primarily the reason for adding a player who had been cut by Baltimore and Houston this season after the Eagles traded him following the 2024 season. The top three cornerbacks are currently sidelined for the Bears, with Tyrique Stevenson probably due back first. He has missed one game with a shoulder injury.
"Well, as you can tell we've had some injuries over the course of the last few weeks," Johnson said. "Our injury report last week was pretty healthy and then this week, same thing. We had a lot of, you know, we've got guys dinged up and in and out. So, we have an opportunity and he was available. He's a good football player.
"You know, there's a number of us that have been with him in the past and so it's a good fit."
Johnson's own familiarity in Detroit with Gardner-Johnson was limited.
"Yeah, you know he ended up going on IR there for a long time and so all I know is he's a competitive player," Johnson said. "You know, felt that during training camp that year that I was with him, early in the season and then he came back late in the season, it's the same thing. He loves being on the grass and playing football.
"So, we'll make sure that we have a good support system for him. You know, he's got a family. He's got kids that are important to him. So, we just want to make sure that we support him the best we can."
By support system, he means a veteran locker room that can sort out problems on its own.
"Well, we've got a very strong locker room," Johnson said. "We've got a positive veteran influence in there. I feel very strongly about that group and nothing is more important than our locker to be clear with you.
"That's certainly first and foremost of any decision we make of who we bring in or who we let go. And so, I think we're all aware of how important that is and the fit that he has with this locker room."
The move to sign Gardner-Johnson was made to plug him in at slot cornerback, where Johnson says they hope to get Kyler Gordon back within four weeks from a groin injury. They used Nick McCloud in the slot last week.
Despite all of the past penalty situations, no less an expert than Eagles GM Howie Roseman brought him in twice in the past three seasons or depth purposes and got 16 starts from him in a 2024 Lombard Trophy-winning season.
Putting Gardner-Johnson at the slot could be a bit of a gamble even if he played the position for Allen in New Orleans, because he hasn't been a slot cornerback since then. He became a safety with the Eagles and played there briefly in Detroit in 2023.
"We'll lock him in in one spot and have him learn the defense, you know," Johnson said.
"Obviously, he's been with D.A. and so he should have some familiarity but he's also bounced around to a few different other systems over the last few years and so we'll see how quickly it comes back to him and whether he'll be ready to go this week or not."
