Miguez: Do the Saints have what it takes to win the NFC South in 2025?

The unofficial start of the 2025 NFL season is right around the corner: training camp.

Many people look at the NFL Draft as that point, but I say once everyone is on the field together for camp, we’re off and rolling.

For the New Orleans Saints, there seems to be a ton of negativity from other places in the league. However, in the Big Easy, there’s almost a careful optimism about where this team is headed into the season.

But, when you add up a first-year head coach, a rookie quarterback, and new faces spread throughout the roster, you are looking at more questions than answers headed into training camp on Airline Drive.

Is Tyler Shough the starting quarterback? More than likely, but you worry about the chemistry that he’s had to quickly develop with his receivers since being drafted at the end of April.

Is Kellen Moore prepared to be a head coach? Also, probably. He’s had success everywhere he’s been as an offensive coordinator, including winning Super Bowl 59 inside the Caesars Superdome this past February. Two days later, he was officially announced as the new head coach of the Saints.

But the biggest question is one that nobody can really control...

Can the Saints stay healthy?

That’s been the biggest crux for this franchise since Drew Brees retired and Sean Payton left. Whether it was Jameis Winston tearing his ACL and MCL against Tampa Bay or Derek Carr missing multiple stretches of both seasons with injuries, there was always something. Not to mention the multiple concussions Chris Olave has suffered and Rashid Shaheed’s season-ending meniscus injury a year ago.

I don’t write this to say that I think the Saints are ready to compete for a Super Bowl, but if they can stay healthy, they are definitely in a position already to win the NFC South and be a playoff team. Which after the last few seasons, gives Saints fans a lot to be excited about.