New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore makes his way off the field after a NFL preseason football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in New Orleans on Sunday, August 17, 2025. (Staff photo by Brett Duke, The Times-Picayune)
STAFF PHOTO BY BRETT DUKE
Anyone interested in the New Orleans Saints wants to know who will win the team’s [quarterback battle](https://www.nola.com/tncms/asset/editorial/29ef96c8-d580-4750-9931-7a08377f73b9/) — even those in coach Kellen Moore’s own home.
“My kids included,” Moore said with a laugh. “It’s a fun conversation. They’ve got advice about everything.”
Despite the curiosity, Moore said the Saints have yet to decide on a starter — even as the final few quarterback battles around the league have concluded. On Tuesday, the Indianapolis Colts named Daniel Jones their starter over Anthony Richardson. A day earlier, the Cleveland Browns announced veteran Joe Flacco beat out Shedeur Sanders, Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel to win their job.
That leaves New Orleans with the last remaining quarterback battle, but the Saints are in no rush to judgment, Moore said.
He also said Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shough again rotated reps with the starters in practice Tuesday. And the Saints will use this week leading to Saturday’s preseason finale against the Denver Broncos as another measuring stick.
“It’s close,” Moore said. “We look at every aspect of this quarterback situation. It’s really, really close. Numbers, experience reps, everything. It’s going all the way back to the start of training camp. Everything is very, very close between this group.”
Moore said the Saints haven’t decided on playing time yet for the quarterbacks against the Broncos, but he indicated the quarterbacks have some “excellent work coming their way” — including the game.
The preseason stats reflect just how close the competition has been.
In two games, Rattler has thrown for 252 yards, one touchdown and an interception on 25-of-34 passing. The rookie Shough has completed 24 of 34 passes for 231 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Rattler and Shough have had their moments to shine. In the first preseason game, Shough led the Saints on three scoring drives and hit Mason Tipton on a 54-yard touchdown to earn him the start the next week. But against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Rattler responded. He also led three scoring drives and engineered a game-tying touchdown drive that included a two-point conversion on a scramble to the end zone.
While Rattler appeared to open camp with a leg up on Shough — the second-year quarterback looked decisive and faster — the second-round pick seemed to close the gap when the team began practicing in California for nine days. Since then, Shough has shown noticeable improvement.
“We felt like it was pretty close (going into the second preseason game) and obviously it came out pretty close,” Moore said. “We’re kind of staying in this middle. Obviously, you’d like to make a decision, but we’ll get there as we go. Both of these guys are putting in tremendous effort, tremendous work.
“They’re both doing a ton of good things. And so we’ll see how it goes.”
If Shough wins the job, he’ll be the first rookie to open as the starting quarterback for the Saints since Archie Manning in 1971. If Rattler wins, he’ll get another crack at the job after starting six games last season. He went 0-6 in that span, albeit with a depleted supporting cast because of injuries.
Moore also has said the Saints are considering 2023 fourth-rounder Jake Haener for the job. But Haener hasn’t taken first-team reps since July 30, and he did not play Sunday against Jacksonville. Haener has almost exclusively spent time with the third team in practice as of late.
Repeatedly, Moore said he has no timetable to make a decision — as long as the Saints have a starter in place by the Sept. 7 opener against the Arizona Cardinals.
And he insists this isn’t typical football subterfuge of keeping the starter a secret in an attempt to gain a competitive advantage. The Saints haven’t made a decision because they don’t know what they’ll do yet.
“We’re not hiding anything, guys,” Moore said with a smile and a shake of his head. “Don’t worry.”