The New Orleans Saints went out on a limb and selected former Oregon, Texas Tech, and Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough with the No. 40 overall pick in the second round of the 2025 National Football League Draft.
Shough is the highest-selected quarterback for the Saints since Archie Manning back in 1972 and now he is trying to win the starting job in a competition with Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener with Derek Carr retiring.
The 25-year-old has a lot of promise and is in a unique position as one of the oldest prospects in the 2025 draft. He has seven years of college football under his belt. That isn't common. It could be looked at as a positive as he was widely considered to be the most pro-ready quarterback in the draft, but he's also going to turn 26 years old in September.
It's hard to project how he will be because there are questions with the competition and he isn't the typical second-round prospect. CBS Sports' Cody Benjamin recently put each quarterback into tiers and had Shough in his sixth tier: "Holdovers and Placeholders."
"Shough isn't a typical rookie given his age and seven-year college run, but he feels more like a starter by default for the overhauled New Orleans Saints," Benjamin said. "The second-rounder, who battled multiple injuries earlier in his NCAA tenure, at least has veteran talent at his disposal, including Alvin Kamara and Chris Olave."
The other quarterbacks in this tier were Russell Wilson of the New York Giants, Bryce Young of the Carolina Panthers, Michael Penix Jr. of the Atlanta Falcons, Joe Flacco of the Cleveland Browns, Anthony Richardson of the Indianapolis Colts, and Justin Fields of the New York Jets.
Saints rookie Tyler Shough's power move could have major consequences throughout the NFL
Several second-round picks from the 2025 NFL Draft remain unsigned as they seek fully guaranteed rookie contracts, according to Joel Corry of CBS Sports.
Back in May, the Texans gave No. 34 pick Jayden Higgins a fully guaranteed deal, the first of its kind for a second-round pick. In past years, the first few picks of the second round have received three years of fully guaranteed money with increasing fourth-year guarantees after each draft. The Texans’ move put pressure on the Browns to do the same with No. 33 pick Carson Schwesinger, which they did the next day.
With this new precedent, Saints second-round quarterback Tyler Shough is demanding a fully guaranteed rookie contract of his own, per Corry. That would be a sizable jump from 2024 No. 40 pick Cooper DeJean, who only received partial guarantees in his third year and none in his fourth, per OverTheCap. Shough was taken with pick No. 40, six spots after Higgins, but the recent retirement of Derek Carr has positioned him as the Saints’ starting quarterback, giving him some extra leverage in negotiations.
Knowing that, the players drafted between Higgins and Shough are waiting to sign with their teams. If Shough can get a fully guaranteed contract from the Saints, every player selected before him will have an argument to receive the same deal. However, their teams will argue that Shough’s situation — and quarterbacks in general — are unique when it comes to contract negotiations.
Players selected in the early 40s will also be “hoping to benefit from a trickle-down effect” from Shough’s negotiations, according to Corry. If he extracts a fully guaranteed deal, the next few picks will push for their first three years to be fully guaranteed and potentially ask for guarantees in the fourth year as well.
