Ever since Derek Carr’s shoulder injury was revealed weeks before the NFL draft, the New Orleans Saints were basically pushed into a QB search. After they chose to restructure Carr’s contract, guaranteeing him $40M, he was supposed to be the leader for at least another year. But obviously it won’t go according to their previous plan. So, given the urgency of finding a quarterback that can probably come in and start right away. The Saints were heavily linked with Shedeur Sanders, considering Cam Ward was slated to go No.1. However, after passing on Sanders with their 9th overall pick to take Texas tackle Kelvin Banks Jr., instead. The Saints zeroed in on Tyler Shough. Now, as he prepares to settle in as the Saints’ future face of the franchise, he is hoping to carve out a legacy of his own.

Shough is soon going to be the ninth starting QB the Saints have cycled through ever since Drew Brees retired in 2020. So, as he looks to end his vicious cycle of failed QBs, he is already making quite the impression. To set himself up for success as a Saint, Shough is following in Brees’ footsteps. He had his first dinner at Drago’s Seafood with owner Tommy Cvitanovich—the restaurant where Brees had his first dinner when he signed back in 2006.

Well, after the dinner that lasted almost 3 hours, Cvitanovich kept on singing Shough’s praises. “I can tell you first hand, already, he gets it, when you talk about New Orleans and hospitality and friendship and love. He’s got it. He loves this city, he’s ready to make a splash in not only football. But jump all into the culture. He wants to be a New Orleanian.” Considering Shough has already taken a huge stride in convincing the Saints that he is the man. It was widely expected that Shough was going to ask for Brees’ No.9 jersey.

While the Saints have not officially retired Brees’ jersey, it hasn’t been worn by anyone since he vacated it. So, when Shough was asked by Brad Cesmat of Sports360AZ which jersey he was hoping to pick in New Orleans, Shough replied, “I don’t know yet.” But apparently, he did some prior research and said, “Hoping for 6 or 18. I think that’s the quarterback numbers they have left.” Shough, who wore No. 9 at Louisville, where he had a breakout season after spending 7 years in college, was obviously expected to stick with No. 9. However, he doesn’t want to be the man who took Brees’ number.

Instead, he chose 6 or 18 because of its loose connection to Louisville’s No. 9. “We’ll try and get six. I guess, and we’ll see what happens. But I’m not too big on it. Six is three less than nine..eighteen is nine plus nine, so it works out in the long run from the Louisville connection,” Shough revealed. He also went on to clearly state, “I’m not going to wear Archie or Drew’s number, no way. Those guys are legends.” So, Shough would either wear Spender Rattler’s ex-jersey No.18 before he switched to No.2, Or he is going to drape himself with No.6 previously worn by Willie Gray Jr. and Marcus Maye.

While Tyler Shough is avoiding stepping into others’ legacy, hoping to carve his own, his competitor for the starting job looks set to be out for the foreseeable future.

Derek Carr’s future in New Orleans looks bleaker than ever

With the Saints drafting Shough, their GM, Mickey Loomis, had already stated, “It’s going to be a competition,” referring to Derek Carr. But the obvious problem is Derek’s shoulder injury. During his guest sermon at Church LV in Las Vegas, Carr publicly spoke about his shoulder injury. Since the news broke out three days before the Saints’ voluntary offseason program began. “Yes, I hate I have to say this, yes, I have a shoulder injury…I have an MRI report to prove it. The team knows about it. We’ve been in constant communication. There’s nothing wrong. We’re figuring it out and we’re gonna go forward with that.”

Loomis has obviously stated, “Derek’s the starter,” even though Tyler Shough was picked in the second round. But given his injury concerns, Carr is probably not in the plans of the Saints. He is yet to show up for their voluntary training. So, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport believes “Shough may have to start” from week 1. “Right now, we just don’t know whether or not Derek Carr is going to be ready. And so, in Tyler Shough, what the Saints is someone who they believe to be the most pro-ready,” Rapoport added.

Shough is more like the present of Saints rather than the future. With Carr set to be sidelined for quite some time, Shough will be expected to lead the Saints’ revolution from week 1.