Saints Writer Offers Clear Solution To Tyler Shough Issue

The rookie quarterback might miss the starting of training camp...

May 10, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough (6) during rookie minicamp at Ochsner Sports Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

New Orleans Saints rookie quarterback Tyler Shough remains unsigned as training camp approaches.

The prolonged contract disputes between the NFL and its second-round draft picks are nearing resolution, but the Saints and Shough remain at an impasse.

This delay is not entirely unexpected given the pattern observed with earlier picks. The players chosen from picks 33 to 35 secured fully guaranteed contracts. However, pick No. 37, running back Quinshon Judkins, faced legal issues, leaving him and picks 37 to 39 unsigned. Signing Shough now could complicate negotiations for those teams, as it might set a precedent for four other contracts.

Despite this, the Saints should move forward, according to LouisianaSports.Net’s Ross Jackson, who suggested that the Saints should simply offer Shough a fully guaranteed deal.

“At this point, New Orleans may as well go ahead and guarantee the entire deal,” Jackson wrote.

“The idea of drafting (Shough) was to give him a chance to become the team’s franchise quarterback anyway. A difference of about a million dollars shouldn’t be a barrier in that case. Shough’s status as a quarterback and a potential starter for the team justifies a specific and unique approach than those that await ahead of him on the draft board. The worst-case scenario is that the Saints have a backup quarterback on a guaranteed rookie deal going into 2026 if things don’t pan out this year and the team decides to go back to the quarterback well next offseason, or second-year competitor Spencer Rattler wins out and holds on to the gig himself.”

Jackson is correct here. Securing Shough before training camp begins on July 23 is critical, and the difference in money between a fully guaranteed deal for Shough and waiting things out isn’t consequential. The financial difference between the last guaranteed deal at pick No. 35 (Seattle’s safety Nick Emmanwori) and pick No. 43 (San Francisco’s defensive lineman Shemar Turner) is minimal, about 1.5 percent less in guaranteed money per pick. Applying this, Shough’s deal would likely be around 92.5 percent guaranteed, surpassing last year’s No. 34 pick’s 91.9 percent.

The Saints should stop messing around and get the Shough deal done.

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