As of Tuesday morning, almost every NFL team has reported to training camp. The offseason isn’t over yet, but it’s getting close…

One of the most intriguing teams this offseason was the New Orleans Saints. They came alive at the end of last year, winning four of their last five games before signing some big names such as Travis Etienne, David Edwards and Kaden Elliss in free agency and drafting the best receiver in the class, Jordyn Tyson.

All of a sudden, this offense looks super exciting with second-year quarterback Tyler Shough under center. They have a legitimate shot at winning the NFC South and making the playoffs for the first time since 2020. So today, we’re going to take a deep dive into their roster and see what you should pay attention to in training camp.

Rookies to Watch

Let’s start with the rookies. After a solid 2025 draft class, the Saints seem to have assembled another solid group of young players in this year’s draft, but nothing is guaranteed. Until they get out on the field, we won’t really know what they have, but we should get a good idea in training camp.

Tyson is the headliner of this group. The No. 8 overall pick in the draft suffered a handful of injuries in college, but absolutely oozes talent. The Saints already have Chris Olave, a super smooth route runner, but now they’ve added Tyson, who is incredibly athletic and is great down the field. These two should give Tyler Shough one of the best receiver rooms in the NFC.

In round two, the Saints made their only defensive selection of the first four rounds, selecting Christen Miller out of Georgia to shore up the interior of their defensive line. Run defense has been one of their weakest points over the past couple of seasons, so pairing Miller with a high-upside player like Bryan Bresee makes a lot of sense for Brandon Staley.

In round three, the Saints went back to the offensive side of the ball and selected Oscar Delp, another Georgia product. Delp wasn’t much of a receiver in college, but he tested extremely well at the combine and was a great blocker. Don’t be surprised if Kellen Moore finds a way to utilize him alongside Juwan Johnson and Noah Fant.

The Saints addressed their guard need in free agency, signing David Edwards to a big deal, but they still needed to get better at the position, so they selected Auburn OG Jeremiah Wright in round four. He’s a massive guy that can bulldoze people in the run game, but there is a lot to clean up before he sees meaningful playing time.

Just four picks later, the Saints used their second fourth round selection on speedy North Dakota State receiver, Bryce Lance. He went for over 1,000 yards in 2025, but because he played in the FCS, he slipped to round four. He has a ton of upside, though, and could see the field quite often as a rookie.

With their final three picks in the draft, the Saints selected two defensive backs, Lorenzo Styles Jr., who ran a 4.27-second 40-yard dash at the Combine, and T.J. Hall, and a speedy kick returner in Barion Brown, who owns the SEC record for most kick off return touchdowns in a career.

All of these guys have a real shot at making the 53-man roster, and most of them should get solid playing time in their rookie seasons. But we have to see who has a good camp and makes an impression on the coaching staff before we can dub any of them as locks to start.

Exciting New Offense

At the beginning of the year, the Saints had one of the most stagnant offenses in the league, but once Tyler Shough took over and found his groove, he gave them a whole new energy, leading them to 24.8 PPG over their final five contests.

But there were still some major concerns about this offense heading into the offseason. They have their tackle and center positions locked down on the offensive line, but they really needed to upgrade at least one of their guard positions. So what did they do? They went out and signed David Edwards from the Buffalo Bills and drafted Jeremiah Wright. It won’t be a complete fix, but they’re talented enough to be a top-10 offensive line in the league.

There were also massive concerns about their run game. Alvin Kamara is great, but he’s lost a step, and behind a bad offensive line, he couldn’t even average 3.7 yards per carry last year. We all know Kellen Moore loves a good run game – he orchestrated Saquon Barkley’s 2,000-yard season in 2024 – so he made it a priority to sign Louisiana native Travis Etienne in free agency, giving the Saints a very strong 1-2 punch at RB.

Chris Olave is coming off an All-Pro season, but he has a pretty long injury history, and if he went down, the Saints didn’t have a whole lot of guys behind him that could step up and be a true WR1. That’s why they went out and drafted Jordyn Tyson with the eighth overall pick in the draft, giving them two receivers who could very well go for 1,000 yards.

But let’s not forget about the tight end position. Juwan Johnson had a career year in 2025, catching 77 passes for 889 yards and three touchdowns. He built a great connection with Tyler Shough, and now he has Noah Fant and Oscar Delp in the tight end room to help take some weight off his shoulders.

The Saints have true top-10 offense upside. If Tyler Shough plays as well as he did down the stretch last year (and I think he could be even better), they’re a real threat to average 25+ in 2026.

How Far Can Tyler Shough Take Them?

It doesn’t matter how talented you are offensively, if you don’t have a quarterback to lead you, you’re not going to go very far. A lot of people were skeptical about the Tyler Shough pick last offseason, but he showed the entire league that he’s the real deal.

Shough took over as the starter in Week 8 of the season, and he did take a few weeks to really get going, but once he did, he never looked back. Over his final eight games, Shough averaged 260 passing yards and 21.5 rushing yards per game while totaling 12 touchdowns with four interceptions. And that was with an offense that really only had Chris Olave.

Sophomore slumps are a real thing for quarterbacks. By the start of their second season, teams have a lot of tape on them, and if they get off to a slow start to the year, sometimes they can never find their mojo. But the Saints have done everything in their power to ensure that doesn’t happen to Shough. They have upgraded every single position group on their offense to give him as many weapons as possible.

I fully expect Shough to continue taking steps forward. He’s done everything right to this point, including paying for a bunch of his teammates to fly out to San Diego and practice with legendary Saints quarterback Drew Brees, so there’s no indication that he’s going to slow down in his second year.

If Shough keeps developing, there’s no reason the Saints can’t win 10+ games and make the playoffs.

Can the Defense Do Their Part?

I feel pretty confident the Saints’ offense will do their part this season, but will their defense be able to do theirs?

Starting up front, the Saints finished the 2025 season 10th in sacks with 2.6 per game. That was largely due to Chase Young and Cam Jordan both putting up 10+ sacks, and this year, both of them are returning to the team. On top of that, the Saints traded for Tyree Wilson, a former first round pick, and drafted Christen Miller on the interior. I don’t know if they’ll be way better than they were last year, but 2.5 sacks per game would put them in a good spot.

At linebacker, the Saints took a massive blow, losing Demario Davis in free agency, but they went out and signed Kaden Elliss to take his spot. Elliss isn’t the player Davis is, but he’s younger and has been a very good run defender and pass rusher during his time in Atlanta, which is precisely where Davis excelled.

In the secondary, the Saints remain largely the same as last year. Kool-Aid McKinstry and Quincy Riley lead the way at cornerback with Jonas Sanker, Justin Reid and Jordan Howden leading the safety room, but they did also bring in Julian Blackmon to give them another option deep.

Last year’s unit ranked 14th in PPG allowed (22.5) and 9th in yards per game allowed (299.8). While they didn’t make as many additions on defense as they did on offense, at worst, they should be just as good as they were last year.

If the Saints can be an above average defense in 2026, a playoff berth is certainly well within reach.

Playoff and Division Odds

The NFC South is one of the most open divisions in the entire NFL. The Carolina Panthers took the division crown last year, and despite making some big offseason additions, they currently have the worst odds to win the division at +330. Their schedule is much harder this year, so it makes a little sense, but the worst odds still seems harsh.

Right now, the Saints have the second-best odds to win the division at +240, trailing only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+200), but with Mike Evans leaving, Vita Vea requesting a trade and Baker Mayfield nowhere near an extension, it seems the future in TB isn’t too bright.

Then there’s Atlanta at +310. They have a lot of questions around the quarterback position with Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix, so does anyone really believe they’ll win the division over Bryce Young, Baker Mayfield or Tyler Shough, who all have equally as good, if not better, rosters?

I believe the NFC South is going to come down to Carolina and New Orleans, and it could come down to their schedule. Based on opponents average record in 2025, the Saints have the second-easiest schedule in the league, while Carolina has the 10th-hardest, so given all the additions they made, my belief in Tyler Shough and their respective strength of schedules, my money is on New Orleans winning the NFC South in 2026.