And that’s that — the New Orleans saints have agreed to terms on their contract with rookie quarterback Tyler Shough, the 40th overall pick in this year’s NFL draft. It’s a standard four-year deal valued at $10.795 million, and is fully guaranteed at signing (which was the holdup all along). Shough gets the guaranteed money he deserves, and the Saints get the QB with the best shot at starting this season. There won’t be a distracting holdout to open training camp. News of Shough’s new deal was first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Shough, who turns 26 in September, had to spend more time in college than he planned after a series of injuries derailed his career. But he thrived last season at Louisville after transferring from Texas Tech, and before that, Oregon, where he backed up Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert. He’s been busy this offseason working out with his teammates and veterans around the league, and now he’s in for a heated competition to win the starting job.
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It’ll be Shough, Spencer Rattler, and Jake Haener battling it out at Saints training camp. They don’t have an NFL win between the three of them (and their seven combined career starts), and for that reason a lot of analysts and even the betting markets are low on New Orleans. Derek Carr wasn’t a worthy successor to Drew Brees, but neither was Jameis Winston, Andy Dalton, Trevor Siemian, or the other passers who started games for the Saints the last few years. Whoever wins this contest will have an opportunity to write their own story; and the smart money says it’ll be Shough. Now that this contract dustup is behind us, let’s see if the kid can play.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Tyler Shough, Saints reach agreement on his first NFL contract