How the Saints Could Finally End Their Five-Year Playoff Drought

The New Orleans Saints finished just 6-11 last season.

They have missed the playoffs each of the last five seasons.

And yet there is significant optimism around the team that the 2026 season will be much better than recent history suggests.

There are a good reasons for thinking this team might be able to reach the playoffs for the first time since Drew Brees was its quarterback and Sean Payton was its head coach.

The first is that the team went 5-4, including a four-game winning streak in December, after rookie Tyler Shough took over as the starting quarterback. The second-round draft choice from Louisville, who also played at Oregon and Texas Tech during his seven-year college career, showed above-average poise and maturity for a rookie, which isn’t surprising for someone who will turn 27 in September.

New Orleans had a top-10 defense last season and spent the offseason surrounding the strong-armed and athletic Shough with enough talent to bring the offense in line with the defense.

The Saints signed former Bills guard David Edwards, one of the top offensive linemen on the free-agent market, to plug the final hole on a promise unit featuring two recent No. 1 draft choices at tackle in Taliese Fuaga (2024) on the right side and Kelvin Banks Jr. (2025) on the left.

The hope is that the line will lead to significant improvement in what was one of the least productive run games in the NFL last season, which will put Shough in much better down-and-distance situations and which will protect Shough.

New Orleans also signed former Jaguar Travis Etienne to pair with Alvin Kamara, the franchise’s all-time leading rusher.

With Edwards and Etienne on board, the Saints were able to focus on targets for Shough by using four draft choices on pass catchers – wide receivers Jordyn Tyson (first round), Bryce Lance (fourth round) and Barion Brown (sixth-round) and tight end Oscar Delp (third round). They also signed veteran tight end Noah Fant to join a group led by incumbent Juwan Johnson, who’s coming off a career year.

Then there is head coach Kellen Moore, who was hired as the youngest head coach in the NFL just days after he coordinated the Eagles offense during Philadelphia’s run to the Super Bowl title at the end of the 2024 season.

The Saints’ rocky start – a 1-7 record before Moore switched to Shough from Spencer Rattler – raised legitimate questions about whether the then 37-year-old was ready to be a successful head coach. But his staff, including well-regarded defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, held everything together and guided the team through the second-half push.

But there are buts.

Opponents have had an offseason to scout Shough, star linebacker Demario Davis signed with the Jets in free agency, and an inordinate number of injuries to key players already have taken a toll on a roster with questionable depth.

Tyson is likely out until October and Kamara and venerable defensive end Cam Jordan could be sidelined into the regular season.

So the Saints’ ceiling isn’t necessarily all that high, but it doesn’t have be in the NFC South, where everyone had a losing record last season as the Panthers, Buccaneers and Falcons all finished just two games better than New Orleans.