Spencer Rattler wins the Saints starting quarterback job | Saints

Before the New Orleans Saints’ team meeting Tuesday, Kellen Moore pulled each of his quarterbacks aside. It was time to tell them his decision on who would start Sept. 7’s season opener against the Arizona Cardinals.

And in the end, Moore went with Spencer Rattler.

Rattler will be the Saints’ starting quarterback this season, earning the role over rookie Tyler Shough and Jake Haener — the latter of whom was released as part of New Orleans’ cuts to get the roster to 53 players.

“Really, really excited for him,” Moore said of Rattler. “He’s done an awesome job this offseason. He’s just been consistent. He’s made some really good decisions throughout this whole entire process. His ability to make plays with his arm and his feet have certainly shown up. … He’s earned this opportunity. He’s going to do a tremendous job for us.”

Rattler gives the Saints a slightly more experienced option to begin the year. The 2024 fifth-round pick appeared in seven games with six starts for the Saints last season. And though the Saints went winless in those contests, they were valuable opportunities for Rattler — who grew substantially from the reps.

That experience, too, was evident in camp as Rattler looked more decisive and led the Saints to start Rattler in two of their three preseason games.

“I’m obviously excited to be the guy going into Week 1,” Rattler said. “I want to lead this team. I want to lead these guys and just keep fighting. That’s one thing I can promise is putting my all on that field, and I know everybody else will.

“It’s good to gain that confidence from your coach to make that decision.”

The Saints were in need of a new quarterback this season after Derek Carr unexpectedly retired in May with a shoulder injury. But New Orleans had been aware of the ailment for months before Carr’s decision, and so to plan for the future, the Saints drafted Shough with the 40th overall pick.

Even with the selection, however, the Saints opted to hold a three-man quarterback competition and let the best man win.

That, for now, wasn’t Shough. The rookie said he was “super disappointed as a competitior” regarding the decision, but that he would do his best to support Rattler and the team. He maintained that he was happy to be part of the franchise and would continue competing in practice.

Moore, too, said he values a quarterback’s development, adding the Saints would give Shough more time to grow.

“There’s a long list of quarterbacks who have had plenty of successful careers that get to be scout team quarterbacks for a certain amount of time,” Moore said. “Both of these guys have an excellent opportunity and an excellent path to be starting quarterbacks in this league.”

Added Shough: “He was very complimentary of the progression (I’ve made). He said he loves everything about it.”

Moore took his time to announce a starter in part because of how close the competition turned out to be.

At the beginning, Rattler looked the best of the group as he was decisive, on time and confident with each pass. Moore also praised the quarterback’s mobility, noting Rattler could create off-schedule plays with his legs. Shough, by contrast, initially seemed to be a step slower as he adjusted to the NFL’s pace, going through a learning curve typical of a rookie.

But starting around when the Saints departed to spend nine days in California for training camp, Shough turned a corner. He started to get the ball out much faster and was sharper on throws. With Shough’s progression, Moore, too, started to consistently rotate Rattler and Shough with the 1’s in practice — something he avoided for the first part of camp, when he opted to rotate his quarterbacks by the day.

Then, in the preseason, Rattler and Shough both had their moments.

In the team’s preseason opener against the Los Angeles Chargers, which Rattler started, Shough was the more productive signal caller. Though he threw a pick-six, the rookie responded to the costly turnover with an electric 54-yard touchdown to Mason Tipton. His performance earned him the start against the Jacksonville Jaguars the following week.

But against the Jaguars, it was Rattler who showed he wasn’t going to lose the job without a fight. The second-year signal-caller engineered three scoring drives — including an impressive game-tying series that ended with Rattler hitting Dante Pettis for a touchdown and converting a 2-point attempt on a scramble to the end zone.

The battle came down to the third game against the Denver Broncos. And Rattler “checked it off” with how he approached that entire week, Moore said Tuesday. The coach was impressed with Rattler’s Wednesday practice at the Caesars Superdome and carried the momentum into Saturday’s finale.

By the end of the preseason, the stats between the two were nearly even. Shough completed 66.7% (36-54) of his passes for 333 yards, a touchdown and an interception, while also having one rushing touchdown and a fumble. Rattler, by contrast, completed 69.8% (30-43) of his passes for 295 yards, a touchdown and an interception, while also committing a fumble.

In the end, Moore chose Rattler.

“We feel like he put himself in a position to have a successful start,” Moore said. “And he’s going to give us a heck of a chance to compete and go win some games.”