Saints select Spencer Rattler to open the season as their QB over rookie Tyler Shough

METAIRIE, La. (AP) — Spencer Rattler will be the New Orleans Saints' starting quarterback when the club opens the regular season at home against Arizona, first-year coach Kellen Moore said Tuesday.

“He's just been consistent, he's made some really good decisions throughout this whole entire process and his ability to make plays with his arm and his feet have certainly shown up,” Moore said. “He's earned this opportunity. He's going to do a tremendous job for us.”

Moore also announced that versatile offensive and special teams player Taysom Hill will start the season on the club's physically unable to perform list, along with tight end Foster Moreau. Both veteran players are coming off reconstructive knee surgeries.

The quarterback decision came down to Rattler, a second-year pro out of South Carolina, and rookie Tyler Shough, a second-round draft choice out of Louisville.

“Worked my tail off to achieve this and now it’s here, and just ready to work with the guys and get this season going,” Rattler said. "This is something you work toward your whole life. ... It’s here now and I don’t want to waste it.”

Rattler and Shough each passed for one touchdown and threw one interception during three preseason games. Shough also rushed for a touchdown.

Rattler completed 69.8% of his passes and averaged 6.9 yards per completion. Shough completed 66.7% of his throws for an average of 6.2 yards per completion.

While those preseason numbers were close, Moore said Rattler's additional year of experience was evident in his consistency during both practice and games, as well as in his rapport with other offensive players.

“Obviously I’m super disappointed as a competitor but I’m ready to roll and support Spencer any way that I can,” Shough said. “I’m going to keep getting better, keep growing, keep learning and just kind of staying ready.”

Because of injuries to 2024 starter Derek Carr, who retired last offseason, Rattler started six times as a rookie. The Saints lost all six of those games en route to a 5-12 finish and fourth straight non-playoff season.

“Spence went through some challenging things last year,” Moore said. "And for him to come out of that a better player, but then, to be able to respond really, really well all offseason, I think was a tremendous testament to his work ethic and the way his mind works.

“He’s got an ability to kind of rebound from a challenge, an interception, a mistake, whatever it may be,” Moore said.

Shough, meanwhile, could benefit from more time to develop his game in a backup role, given his relative lack of experience, Moore said.

“I'm a big believer in just the importance of developing quarterbacks, developing them the right way,” Moore said. “Tyler's in a great position to continue to develop and we feel like we've got some depth in that (quarterback) room, which is really valuable for this league.”

“There’s a there’s a long list of quarterbacks who’ve had plenty of successful careers that got to be scout team quarterbacks for a certain amount of time and develop,” Moore added.

Moore also sought to pre-emptively shut down questions about how quickly Shough might be promoted if Rattler stumbles early this season.

“We’re not getting in this QB debate throughout the season,” Moore said. “Spencer is our starting quarterback. Tyler is going to keep developing.”

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New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough, left, passes the ball under pressure from Denver Broncos linebacker Jordan Turner in the second half of an NFL preseason football game Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore responds to a question during a news conference after losing to the Denver Broncos in an NFL preseason football game Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler responds to questions during a news conference after a loss to the Denver Broncos in an NFL preseason football game Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerlad Herbert)

New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler (2) throws a pass against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the second half of an NFL preseason football game in New Orleans, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

PARIS (AP) — France's former president Nicolas Sarkozy maintained his innocence on Tuesday, telling an appeal hearing in Paris that not a single cent from Libya helped fund his 2007 presidential campaign.

“I owe the truth to French people,” Sarkozy told a three-judges panel during a hearing in the case that lead him to spend 20 days in prison before being granted release pending appeal. “I’m innocent,” he said.

Sarkozy, 71, is challenging his conviction after being found guilty in September of “criminal conspiracy.” He was sentenced to five years in prison for his alleged part in a scheme to obtain funds from the government of late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in exchange for political and diplomatic favors.

Sarkozy has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and claims the allegations were politically motivated.

Tuesday’s hearing focused on his role as a conservative presidential candidate and then president from 2007 to 2012. The 12-week appeal trial, which began last month, will reexamine all of the evidence and testimony related to him and nine co-defendants — including three former ministers.

Sarkozy stressed he championed Western military intervention in Libya in 2011 after Gadhafi’s regime violently cracked down on anti-government protesters, when Arab Spring pro-democracy protests swept the region.

“I took the initiative, France took the initiative. Why? Because Gadhafi had no hold over me — financially, politically, or personally,” Sarkozy said.

Gadhafi was killed by opposition fighters in October 2011, ending his four-decade rule of the North African country.

Sarkozy’s appeal hearing comes after families of French victims of a 1989 plane bombing expressed their distress last week over possible promises made to Gadhafi’s government as part of the alleged deal.

Libya in 2003 took responsibility for both the 1988 plane bombing over Lockerbie, in Scotland, and the bombing of UTA flight 772 over Niger the next year that killed 170 people, including 54 French nationals on board.

“I believe that such unspeakable suffering can only be answered with the truth,” Sarkozy said.

Financial prosecutors have accused Sarkozy of having promised to lift the arrest warrant targeting Gadhafi’s brother-in-law and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senoussi, accused of masterminding the attacks, in exchange for alleged campaign financing.

“The truth is that I did not act in favor of Mr. Senoussi … who is in prison (in Libya) because he was arrested following the international action led by France,” Sarkozy said. “I never promised him anything.”

The trial at Paris appeals court is scheduled to last until June 3, with a verdict expected at a later date.

Sarkozy has faced multiple legal cases since leaving office. In November, the Court of Cassation — France’s top court — upheld his conviction for illegal campaign financing of his 2012 reelection bid, requiring him to spend six months under house arrest wearing an electronic ankle tag, a sentence that has yet to be implemented.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives at the appeals courthouse in Paris, France, Tuesday, April 7, 2026, to testify in his trial appealing a conviction involving illegal campaign funds from Libya. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives at the appeals courthouse in Paris, France, Tuesday, April 7, 2026, to testify in his trial appealing a conviction involving illegal campaign funds from Libya. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives at the appeals courthouse in Paris, France, Tuesday, April 7, 2026, to testify in his trial appealing a conviction involving illegal campaign funds from Libya. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)