The ending of a 25-year run of prime-time games wasn’t glaringly unexpected and, perhaps, may even be useful for the New Orleans Saints as they look to rebound from four consecutive non-playoff seasons.
“Well, we don’t have any prime-time games so that’s what the league thinks of us, and that’s fine,” Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis said Monday before participating in the Saints Hall of Fame Celebrity Golf Tournament. “There’s a lot about the schedule that I really like. We knew who we were going to play, (it was) just a matter of when and where and I kind of like the way it laid out.”
Asked if the prime-time absence could be used as a motivational tool, Loomis said it could.
“Look, we’re used to playing in prime time over the years, but we had five wins last year, so we can’t really complain about it,” he said. “We’ve got to go out and perform and earn those opportunities.”
A major reason for the Saints’ 5-12 finish last season, and perhaps a factor in New Orleans’ absence from the NFL’s night schedule, was instability at quarterback.
Derek Carr, who opened the 2023 and ’24 seasons as the starter, announced his retirement May 10 after 11 seasons. He missed seven games in ’24 with injuries.
“He was injured,” Loomis said. “You have injuries come up and things that you may not think are serious at one time end up becoming serious. From that aspect, I would say it’s not rare, but it doesn’t happen very often. You get curveballs in this game all the time and this is one that we have to deal with.”
New Orleans drafted Louisville’s Tyler Shough in the second round this year, No. 40 overall, the highest pick the Saints have used on a quarterback since Archie Manning was selected No. 2 overall in 1971.
Shough will engage in a battle for the starting position with Spencer Rattler, who started six games as a rookie last year, and Jake Haener, who was drafted in ’23 and started one game last year.
After adding Hunter Dekkers to the roster following his tryout this year at rookie minicamp, the Saints have four quarterbacks who’ve combined for seven NFL starts – all by Rattler and Haener – with no wins on the ledger.
But Loomis said adding a veteran to the room isn’t a necessity.
“It’s a young group, enthusiastic, there’s talent there and I think we’ve got a great coaching staff. We’ve got three former quarterbacks…
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