The word is officially out there: rebuild.
In recent weeks, both owner Gayle Benson and general manager Mickey Loomis have used that term to describe where the New Orleans Saints are right now. Reporters brought that language straight to Saints head coach Kellen Moore, asking if being in “a rebuild year” changes how he coaches a team that’s leaning hard into youth.
Moore didn’t flinch — and he didn’t lean on excuses.
“Our job is to win games and be as successful as we can on the field,” Moore said, calling that “the most important task at hand,” even as he acknowledged the bigger-picture transition.
Kellen Moore Acknowledges Youth Movement but Stresses Winning
Moore didn’t deny what everyone can see.
From the move to rookie quarterback Tyler Shough to the decision to release veteran wideout Brandin Cooks at his request and open snaps for younger receivers, the Saints have clearly pivoted toward development. Moore admitted there are “younger guys playing” and “other opportunities going through in different situations like that.”
But he pushed back hard on the idea that a rebuild means a write-off.
He said the goal is still “always to win, always [to] put ourselves in the most successful possible situation to be successful.” The staff used the bye week on a deep self-scout, looking at protections, the run game and red zone issues, and trying to spot trend lines opponents might attack.
That’s not a coach packing it in. That’s a coach trying to fix what’s broken while living with the kids.
Moore on Adjusting: ‘Sometimes There’s a Humbling Process’
Moore also gave a surprisingly honest look at what this kind of season does to a play-caller.
He talked about the need to avoid being stubborn, saying seasons “take a lot of different paths” and you have to navigate both personnel changes and schematic reality. Sometimes, he admitted, there’s a “humbling process” in recognizing plays and concepts you “love” just aren’t working the same way they did elsewhere.
From there, Moore described the grind: digging into data, then into film, to decide if a problem is execution, a tweakable detail inside a concept, or something that needs to be scrapped entirely. He called out the red zone specifically, stressing the importance of staying on schedule and not living in third-and-long near the goal line.
It’s classic rebuild work — but in his words, it’s still all in service of winning.
Locker Room Hears ‘Rebuild,’ But Players See Opportunity
Inside the locker room, players are getting the same rebuild questions, and the answers sound a lot like Moore’s.
Shough called every snap an “insane opportunity” and said he wants to be in New Orleans “for the long run,” no matter what the record is. He’s treated the bye week like any other work week, staying in town to train, throw with teammates and self-scout his first two and a half games as starter.
Young receivers are getting their own shot after the Cooks decision. Moore said this move will let Mason Tipton “play a ton of football” now, and that he views that group as a hungry, younger room he’s “excited to watch go out there and go for it.”
Moore also pointed to the schedule: four division games still left, plus three others. In his view, that’s not dead time. That’s a runway for a young roster to prove the word “rebuild” doesn’t have to mean surrender.
Where the Saints Sit in the Race for the No. 1 Pick
For all the “rebuild” talk, the numbers say the Saints are in the mix but not the favorite for the No. 1 overall pick.
According to ESPN’s Football Power Index projections after Week 11, New Orleans (2–8) has about a 7.7% chance to land the top pick and a 55.6% chance to finish in the top five. That puts the Saints behind the Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, New York Jets and Las Vegas Raiders in the race to the bottom:
- Titans: 41.2% chance at No. 1
- Browns: 24.1%
- Jets: 11.6%
- Raiders: 8.9%
- Saints: 7.7%
In other words, the analytics see New Orleans as firmly in the high-pick conversation, but not quite in full “worst team in football” territory — especially with what FPI rates as the easiest remaining schedule in the league and two late-season games where the Saints are actually slight favorites.
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