Tyler Shough appears to be the future at the quarterback position for the New Orleans Saints.
Things change quickly in the NFL, though, and QB is the most important position in sports. If year two for Shough isn’t an improvement on year one, the Saints could already begin to look past their 2025 second-round pick.
If that happens, don’t forget the name Kyler Murray.
Murray is a known commodity, of course. He’s a former No. 1 overall pick and a great playmaker at the quarterback position.
His future, though, still has some uncertainty beyond the 2026 season.
In a new article on Thursday, Sports Illustrated national NFL writer Connor Orr threw out the idea that Murray could end up with a team like the Saints next offseason.
Orr began his article by examining a bunch of quarterbacks who could move to new teams in the near- or medium-term future of their careers.
And unlike most of the QBs, for whom Orr names just a couple possible landing spots — with the Browns and Jets leading the way as landing spots who need quarterbacks — Orr sees Murray as someone who could go a lot of different places.
Orr sees the Saints as a possible destination.
Kyler Murray’s Move From Cardinals To Vikings
Murray is with a new team for the first time in the NFL in 2026.
He spent his career prior to this point with the Arizona Cardinals, who were the team that made him a first overall pick out of Oklahoma.
The Cardinals didn’t want to keep paying Murray, though, so they cut him. The Vikings decided to bring him aboard.
They’ve got Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison to throw to, and the highly respected Kevin O’Connell running the show from the sideline.
If it works, Murray could raise his value considerably.
“I’m still on the fence—but the thought experiment of whether he plays well and the team wins double-digit games is worth walking through,” Orr writes. “What do you pay a 30-year-old Murray in 2027, having seen him complete fewer than 10 games in two of his last three years leading up to his debut in Minnesota? And does that number align with Murray’s expectations after he reportedly took time this offseason assessing both his current market and the projected 2027 free-agent market?”
Kyler Murray to the Saints?
If Shough struggles in 2026, the Saints could consider drafting a quarterback in the 2027 class.
They could also go for a quicker solution and bring in the experienced Murray.
“Truly ‘unsettled’ quarterback situations—where you could safely argue that the next long-term answer is not on the roster—include the Jets, Dolphins, Cardinals, Browns, Saints, Steelers and Falcons, with the Titans, Giants and Colts probably a year away from wading into that conversation,” Orr writes. “That’s more teams than the 2027 draft class at its peak can reasonably replenish, which presents a continuation of a sound market for Murray if he can play well under O’Connell.”
There are a lot of variables here, so this isn’t to say that Murray to the Saints is highly likely. But apparently it’s possible.
Saints, Kyler Murray Could Pair To Replace Tyler Shough