Zach Wilson last started a game in Week 12 of the 2023 season, when he was with the Jets. Sarah Stier / Getty Images
The New Orleans Saints have signed quarterback Zach Wilson to a one-year deal, a team source confirmed to The Athletic on Wednesday. Wilson, 26, spent last season as a backup with the Miami Dolphins.
Wilson entered the league in 2021 as the No. 2 pick by the New York Jets after the franchise had pulled the plug on the Sam Darnold era a few weeks prior. New York had afforded Darnold three seasons as the team’s primary starter after selecting him third overall in 2018. Wilson was named the starter for Week 1 of the 2021 season.
Wilson’s career with the Jets followed a similar trajectory to Darnold’s. After Darnold went 13-25 as a starter in three seasons before being traded away, Wilson went 12-21 in three seasons as the Jets’ starter before New York traded him to the Denver Broncos in 2024 ahead of Aaron Rodgers’ second season in New York. Wilson slotted in as the third-string quarterback in Denver, behind Bo Nix and Jarrett Stidham, and never played in a game for the Broncos. He moved on to the Dolphins in 2025, where he joined a quarterback room of Tua Tagovailoa and rookie seventh-round pick Quinn Ewers. Wilson appeared in four games for the Dolphins but didn’t have any starts. When Tagovailoa was benched late last season, Ewers got the nod as the starter over Wilson.
Wilson’s last start came in Week 12 of the 2023 season, in which the Jets lost 30-0 to the Dolphins.
Wilson joins a Saints depth chart where second-year quarterback Tyler Shough is the starter. The Saints drafted Shough in the second round last year, and he showed promise after taking over the starting job midway through the season. The Saints also have Spencer Rattler as a backup. Rattler, drafted by the Saints’ previous coaching staff in the fifth round of the 2024 draft, went 1-13 over two seasons as a starter.
Mar 25, 2026
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