The New Orleans Saints did the new-coach/new-quarterback reset in 2025, and even though it only resulted in one more win than the year before, the team is surely optimistic about the direction in which it is headed. That's particularly true if one focuses on December, when the Saints collected four of their six victories and finished off a season sweep of the division-winning Carolina Panthers.

The Saints' actions during the early blush of free agency reinforce the idea that they consider themselves contenders in 2026. With a somewhat less restrictive cap situation than they have faced in quite some years, the Saints were early shoppers on the open market, signing seven different players to multi-year deals, including three to four-year pacts. As will be discussedbelow, the most significant moves leaned towards offense, where the team is now building around promising second-year quarterback Tyler Shough.

Shough was one half of that two-headed reset in 2025. The new head coach was Kellen Moore, who was the Philadelphia Eagles' offensive coordinator during their 2024 Super Bowl-winning campaign Shough was a high second-round draft pick who took over the job from Spencer Rattler at midseason and produced a 5-4 record as a starter. Shough compiled a fine 91.3 passer rating as a rookie (albeit a 26-year-old rookie) with a 10-6 TD-INT ratio.

The Saints also boasted a top-10 defense in 2025, at least in terms of yards. New Orleans ranked ninth in yards allowed per game (299.8) and 17th in points allowed per game (22.5). That defense still relied on some veterans who are a bit long in the tooth in Cameron Jordan and Demario Davis – the latter of whom took off for the Jets in free agency – but does have rising talent in the secondary and a rejuvenated Chase Young (10.0 sacks in 2025) to get after the quarterback.

New Orleans ended up fourth in the NFC South standings for the second season in a row – the franchise's only two last-place finishes since 2008 – but only two games behind the 8-9 Panthers. It's safe to consider the division to be wide open heading into 2026, and with a few more weapons around Shough the Saints, who won the South four straight years from 2017-20, could be in contention once again.

Much of how the division race shapes up around the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next fall will be determined by the moves that the four teams make between now and the summer, or in somecases have already made. For that reason, we're going to keep an eye on what is transpiring in Atlanta, Charlotte and New Orleans with our monthly "NFC South Check-Ins." Once a month from February through May we're going to look at how the rosters, leadership and opportunities are shaping up for the Falcons, Panthers and Saints. We are now checking back in with New Orleans after their early work in free agency.

2026 New Orleans Saints

News/Developments Since the End of the 2025 Season:

Again, the Saints made their big moves last offseason, when Derek Carr retired and Moore was brought in to replace Dennis Allen, who had been fired at midseason in 2024. As such, there has been little turnover on the coaching staff, with only Jahri Evans leaving to join Mike McCarthy's staff in Pittsburgh as an assistant offensive line coach. Scott Tolzien, the Saints' quarterbacks coach, also interviewed with McCarthy for the Steelers' offensive coordinator position but that job eventually went to Brian Angelichio.

Evans, who played guard for 11 seasons in New Orleans, was also a finalist for this year's Pro Football Hall of Fame class though he wasn't one of the four modern-era players eventually selected for enshrinement. That doesn't mean the franchise was shut out of this year's Hall of Fame festivities. Quarterback Drew Brees, who played 15 of his 20 seasons in New Orleans and made 13 Pro Bowls, was one of the players chosen for enshrinement and one of two, along with former Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, to get in as first-ballot candidates.

In February, the NFL announced that the Saints would be the host team in the first regular-season game ever played in Paris, France. That will be part of a record nine-game international slate of games in 2026, and it will be played at Stade de France, the country's national stadium. The Saints' opponent in that game has not yet been officially announced.

New Orleans also got a little contract work done early, signing safety Julian Blackmon to a one-year extension after his first season with the team. That season didn't last long for Blackmon, who suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in Week One after contributing seven tackles and a pass defensed against Arizona. Blackmon previously logged 62 starts in five seasons with the Indianapolis Colts.

Free Agency Developments:

As noted above, the Saints lost one of their long-time defensive leaders in Davis, who was still quite productive (143 tackles) in his age-36. Another starter on defense, cornerback Alontae Taylor, had a hot market in free agency and ended up signing a three-year, $58 million deal with Tennessee. Those were really New Orleans' only two losses of note, however.

Meanwhile, the Saints added to their emerging offense with guard David Edwards (four years, $61 million), running back Travis Etienne (four years, $48 million) and tight end Noah Fant (two years, $9 million). Edwards was widely regarded as the top available guard in free agency after strong 2024 and 2025 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. Etienne fell a single yard short of reaching 1,400 yards from scrimmage for the third time in his four NFL seasons and will either make a nice complement for Alvin Kamara or unseat the veteran back as the top presence in the Saints' backfield. Fant had 34 receptions and three touchdowns for the Bengals last year and replacesFoster Moreau, who left for the Texans, on the tight end depth chart.

With Davis on the way out, the Saints brought back another one of their former defenders, re-signing linebacker Kaden Elliss after he had spent the past three seasons in Atlanta. Elliss started every game over those three years and averaged 127 tackles per season, while adding another element as a strong blitzer. He had 12.5 sacks for the Falcons and actually had a career high of 7.0 sacks in 2022, the last of his first four seasons in New Orleans. The Saints also made a change at punter, trading Kai Kroeger to Houston and signing Ryan Wright from the Vikings.

New Orleans was able to retain a few of its own free agents after the Taylor and Davis departures, getting new deals done with guard Dillon Radunz, defensive lineman John Ridgewayand edge rusher Chris Rumph.

Still unresolved is the status for both edge Cameron Jordan, one of the best players in franchise history, and do-it-all tight end Taysom Hill. Jordan will turn 37 this summer but is coming off a 10.5-sack season and is an obvious leader on the New Orleans defense. Hill had his least productive season since 2018, amassing just 205 yards from scrimmage and one touchdown, but the Saints have always found creative ways to use his positional versatility.

2026 NFL Draft:

New Orleans was one of three teams to finish the 2025 season with a 6-11 record, and it had a lower strength of schedule figure than Kansas City or Cincinnati so it ended up with the eighth pick in the first round of the 2026 draft. Those three teams will rotate through the 8-10 picks from round to round. It's the second straight year in the top for the Saints, who used the ninth pick on tackle Kelvin Banks last spring.

The Saints do not own their own fourth-round pick this year because they traded it to Denver last August to get wide receiver Devaughn Vele. However, they will still pick twice in that round because of the midseason trade that sent wide receiver Rashid Shaheed to Seattle for fourth and fifth-round selections, plus the addition of a compensatory selection. New Orleans also does not have its seventh-round pick this year because the team traded it to New England way back in March of 2025 for defensive tackle Davon Godchaux.

In all, that leaves New Orleans with eight picks heading into the draft, including three of the first 73.

New Orleans has taken an offensive tackle in the top half of the first round in each of the past two years, with Kelvin Banks in 2025 preceded by Taliese Fuaga in 2024. They also have 2020 first-round pick Cesar Ruiz at right guard and McCoy, a 2019 second-round selection, and with the signing of Edwards the front five seems set. It would thus be a surprise if the Saints made it three in a row with first-round linemen.

In addition, the signing of Etienne may have been an acknowledgement that the Saints don'texpect Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love to be available to them at pick number eight. (The Chiefs, picking ninth, did the same thing, signing Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker.)Instead, the Saints could continue to add weapons on offense by taking a wide receiver, possibly the first one off the board. That could be Ohio State's Carnell Tate, USC's Makai Lemon or Arizona State's Jordyn Tyson, though there are some injury concerns with Tyson. Chris Olave was a second-team All-Pro in 2025 but the Saints' receiver depth chart is very thin behind him.

The Saints could also lean defense following the losses of Davis and Taylor and the unresolved status of Jordan. They might be tempted if an edge rusher like Rueben Bain or David Bailey makes it to pick number eight. Alternatively, they would almost certainly be in position to nabone of the top two cornerbacks and might even be able to shop locally with LSU's Mansoor Delane.