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Katherine Terrell
METAIRIE, La. — The New Orleans Saints will start quarterback Spencer Rattler against the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 7, the team announced Tuesday.
Rattler was chosen as the starting quarterback over rookie Tyler Shough after a lengthy competition that spanned more than three months. The competition began following the retirement of veteran Derek Carr in May and lasted until Tuesday, when coach Kellen Moore informed the quarterbacks of their roles for 2025.
When the Saints made their decision, they were the last team to name a 2025 starter.
Rattler, a 2024 fifth-round pick out of South Carolina, will be starting his seventh career game when the Saints host the Cardinals next month. He started six games and played in seven games in 2024 when filling in for an injured Carr, going 0-6 in those starts.
Rattler said he was very grateful for the opportunity and excited to go into Week 1 as the starter.
“Worked my tail off to achieve this and now it’s here. I’m just ready to work with the guys to get this season going,” he said. “I feel like we’re headed in the right direction and everybody is excited.”
Moore cited Rattler’s consistency, decision-making and ability to make plays with both his arm and feet as reasons why they chose him over Shough, who was the 40th pick in the draft this year.
“He’s earned this opportunity. He’s going to do a tremendous job for us,” Moore said of Rattler.
Shough said he was “super disappointed as a competitor,” but ready to support Rattler and the team. When asked how he felt now that the battle for a starting job was over, he said he’ll still approach the season as if it’s a competition.
“I think everything is an evaluation, especially in this league. You never know what can happen,” Shough said. “I think at the end of the day, my job is to support Spencer, and that’s me competing and do everything I can to practice as well as I can give great looks, to learn, to grow, to continue to offer support. So that’s all part of it. “
Moore emphasized there would be no “quarterback debate” this season.
“Spencer’s our starting quarterback, Tyler is going to keep developing,” Moore said. “You need a couple of quarterbacks. … It’s a long NFL season. I think we do value that we have depth there and we’ll have to navigate the rest as we go, but we’re really, really excited about Spence. He’s going to do an awesome job for us.”
Jake Haener, the Saints’ third quarterback, was waived Tuesday with an offer to join the practice squad, sources told ESPN. Haener factored into the competition early in the summer, but it appeared to be a two-man race after a week of training camp.
“The third quarterback spot’s a tricky spot and I’ve got firsthand experience with this third QB position. I kind of lived that world a little bit,” Moore said. “You’re always trying to keep three in a perfect world, but you might be a little bit short in some other spots that you just need to address. … Obviously we still think he’s got a really good path for us, a really good developmental opportunity here. I think the world of Jake … hopefully we’ll see if the opportunity presents itself for him to get back here.”
The quarterback competition appeared to be finalized only after the Saints’ preseason finale Saturday against the Denver Broncos. Rattler started the 28-19 loss and played three series with the first-team unit before Shough came in with the backups.
“I thought he had a really, really good week that entire week throughout over at the Dome for that practice on a Wednesday …. I thought he did an excellent job and carried that through right into Denver,” Moore said. “We feel like he put himself in a position to have success starting, give us a heck of a chance to compete and win some games.”