What Quarterback Will The New Orleans Saints Draft In 2026?

The New Orleans Saints aren’t a good football team this year. They’re 0-4 through their first four weeks, but even though fans are sad and suffering, they’re not panicked. That’s because this poor performance is part of the plan…or as it’s often been called in the sports world, “the process”.

This is the first year for Saints new Head Coach Kellen Moore, who joined the team after winning the Super Bowl as the Offensive Coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles. Not just his first year as the Head Coach of the Saints, its Moore’s first head coaching job period. Which is the big flashing light hanging over the franchise that says “REBUILD”.

Why Are The New Orleans Saints Rebuilding?

The obvious answer is that they have Kellen Moore as their new coach, but there are a few more chapters to this story.

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Over the last 8-10 seasons, the Saints have been building an expensive roster, and kicking the can down the road when it comes to the salary cap. They’ve been ‘restructuring’ contracts every offseason to spread these big contracts out further, and that means they’re still paying good money against the cap to players in the twilight of their career. Looking at you Cam Jordan and Taysom Hill (granted Cam has played well in his later years, but he’s still the biggest cap hit for the Saints at 36-years-old).

This has prevented the Saints from being big spenders in the free agent market every year, and has forced them into some hard decisions on players that fall outside of their ‘restructuring’ cycle.

What Did The Saints Do To Start Rebuilding?

One of the first big moves under the Kellen Moore administration was to draft a quarterback. Which felt like a forced move during the NFL Draft, because the expected starter Derek Carr abruptly retired due to injury this spring.

But the way the Saints drafted a quarterback is more notable. The franchise used their highest draft pick on a quarterback since they took Archie Manning second overall in the 1971 NFL Draft. Not that Shough was drafted #2 overall, or even in the first round. He was taken 40th overall in the Second Round.

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Perhaps not taking a first round quarterback for 50 years might have something to do with the Saints franchise history. But anyway, they took Shough to signal the rebuild was underway.

Who Could The Saints Draft In 2026?

Sure, Shough was taken in the Second Round last year, and that might feel like they invested in a quarterback for the future. But Shough is a year older than last year’s starter Spencer Rattler, who has been the starter for this year so far too. And honestly, Spencer Rattler doesn’t look like the problem.

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But at the end of the day, neither look like they’re going to be the future ‘franchise’ quarterback. It seems like the Saints are doing what they can to evaluate their roster, and just get through this year with a high draft pick in next year’s draft.

They want a high pick, because they appear to be positioning to use it on a quarterback.

Before the college season started, Archie Manning’s grandson Arch Manning of Texas, seemed to be the slam dunk #1 overall pick next year. But then the college season started, and Arch hasn’t looked like a generational quarterback.

So now the attention is turning to another SEC quarterback.

While people loved drawing the connection between Saints legend Archie Manning and the potential to draft his grandson to the same franchise, there’s another familial tie that might be stronger for the Saints organization. Current Saints Offensive Coordinator Doug Nussmeier has a son that happens to be playing quarterback for the LSU Tigers.

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Garrett Nussmeier is leading the LSU Tigers offense under Brian Kelly this year, and has the physical tools to be an NFL quarterback. The idea that the Saints could take Garrett Nussmeier high has a lot of fans across Louisiana excited.

But the Saints don’t draft LSU players. At least, not often, and definitely not high.

There are some who think there’s another SEC quarterback that could be the top pick of the Saints. That’s Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer. Who has been playing at a very high level this season, maybe even better than Nussmeier.

Mateer spent the last three years as the starting quarterback for Washington State, before transferring to Oklahoma this year. In 2024 Mateer threw for 3,139 yards and 29 touchdowns, against just 7 interceptions. He also ran for 826 yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground. Meaning Mateer was directly responsible for 44 touchdowns last season.

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This year, Mateer has thrown for 1,215 yards in four games. He has 6 passing touchdowns, and 5 rushing touchdowns already. Mateer is currently averaging over 300 yards passing per game.

Nussmeier is in his second year starting for the LSU Tigers, and doesn’t quite have the same level of resume as Mateer. Nussmeier threw for more yards last year than Mateer, with 4,052, and the same number of passing touchdowns (29). But Nussmeier threw 12 interceptions last season, and only rushed for 3 touchdowns.

This season, Nussmeier has thrown for 1,159 yards through 5 games, and has 7 passing touchdowns, and one on the ground. He’s averaging 231.8 yards per game through the air, and has thrown three interceptions.

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Does that mean the Saints would avoid taking Nussmeier because his stats don’t match Mateer? No. There’s a long history of stat merchant quarterbacks falling in the draft because their “measurables” don’t fit the NFL’s desires. At the same time, there have been a bunch of quarterbacks without a strong college resume that become top draft picks because they look great in shorts and a helmet (Anthony Richardson, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Kyle Boller, Carson Wentz, JP Losman).

What Are The Saints Going To Do In The 2026 NFL Draft?

Its October, the 2026 NFL Draft is months away. Projecting who the Saints will draft is a little insane. Looking at last year’s October mock drafts, there were some teams around the draft positions experts expected, and they had some players in (or around) the correct spots. But they couldn’t predict who picked where, which dictated who was available after that. So it would be a little wild to predict the Saints take Nussmeier or Mateer #1 overall, and then the Saints go on a late season winning streak and end up picking 5th overall.

There’s also the horrific situation of either player getting hurt during the college season, which could transform their draft stock.

What we do know going into week 5 of the 2025 season: The Saints aren’t good. They’re rebuilding. A quarterback will be a big part of that.

Every Saints First Round NFL Draft Trade Since 2010

What Quarterback Will The New Orleans Saints Draft In 2026?

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