Plenty of New Orleans Saints fans are excited for the 2026 NFL season as the Saints look ready to battle it out with some of the league’s best despite a 6-11 record in 2025.
It’s not just the fans that have a lot of hope for New Orleans in 2026, however, as the NFL seems to believe it too. On Tuesday, the official NFL YouTube channel posted a season preview for the Saints, having them finish the year with a ceiling record of 11-6.
Just as they have a strong ceiling for New Orleans in 2026, they have a low floor. As the narrator announced in the comedic preview, the Saints’ season all depends on second-year quarterback Tyler Shough’s development. If Shough can’t put it all together, they predict the black and gold will finish 5-12.
The NFL’s analysts are mostly somewhere in the middle. Among the seven analysts who put together their record predictions, all seven believe the Saints will go below .500. Three analysts have New Orleans finishing with an 8-9 record, the highest prediction among the bunch.
In the NFL’s 11-6 record prediction, the Saints start 0-2, losing back-to-back road games to begin the year. But starting with Week 3, the NFL predicts New Orleans could go on a seven-game win streak before falling to the Chicago Bears in Week 11.
The NFL’s prediction has the Saints finishing the remaining eight games with a 4-4 record, sweeping the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers while splitting games with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Saints are a tough team to predict for the upcoming season. Shough looks to be the guy, but a small sample size in 2025 makes it undecided how well he could compete, especially now that opposing defenses have more film on the second-year passer. But the organization as a whole has shown they believe in Shough, investing heavily in the offense around him. New Orleans’ win total for 2026 is set at 7.5.
2026 will be a defining year for the Saints’ future. While New Orleans does face a lower strength of schedule, a failure to meet expectations will determine if Kellen Moore is a true head coach, if Shough could be the team’s signal-caller for the next decade, or if they will have to tear it all down and rebuild again. With so much riding on the Saints’ 2026 season, the NFL and many analysts believe the black and gold will show out in a crucial year.
