Tag: A.T. Perry

Saints aren’t tendering wide receiver Lynn Bowden Jr.

The Saints aren’t tendering Lynn Bowden Jr., which means only 3 of the 11 wide receivers who played for them last year are set to return for 2024:

Get ready for a new-look New Orleans Saints wide receiver corps in 2024. The Saints will not be tendering veteran wideout Lynn Bowden Jr., per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, which will make him a free agent when the new league year begins on March 13.

This isn’t too surprising in itself. Bowden primarily worked as a blocker and decoy for the Saints, only drawing 16 targets in 15 games last year while catching 11 passes for 83 yards, picking up a pair of first downs. He also recorded 5 rushing attempts for 32 yards on the ground, moving the chains three times. He was a serviceable emergency returns specialist, averaging 7.6 yards per punt return and 21.3 yards per kick return. That isn’t production teams pay top-dollar for.

But things are interesting under the surface. Fowler initially said that Bowden was an exclusive rights free agent, not a restricted free agent, which he later said was a mistake. Not tendering Bowden as a restricted free agent made sense because it costs at least $2,985,000. Re-signing Bowden at the league-minimum salary is an option.

Maybe he returns later as a minimum signing, but it’s possible that the Saints will be moving on as offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak revamps the receiving corps. Bowden is the latest wideout from New Orleans’ 2023 team to depart thus far. Let’s break it down:

  • Michael Thomas will enter free agency on Wednesday after being released from his contract
  • Marquez Callaway signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers after his practice squad deal expired
  • Shaquan Davis chose to sign with the Philadelphia Eagles in similar circumstances
  • Kirk Merritt is playing for the UFL’s Houston Roughnecks
  • Jontre Kirklin is with the UFL’s San Antonio Brahmas as well
  • Keith Kirkwood will be an unrestricted free agent, too
  • If you’re curious, the Detroit Lions signed Tre’Quan Smith

Which leaves Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, and A.T. Perry as the only receivers returning for the 2024 season (so far). It’s possible Kirkwood and Bowden return at some point but Kubiak has a big opportunity to retool this depth chart. Stay tuned to learn what his plan for accomplishing that is.

Update: Fowler corrected his report, clarifying that Bowden was a restricted free agent (RFA), not an exclusive rights free agent (ERFA). So that confusion can be chalked up to a typo. Maybe the NFL can workshop some abbreviations which aren’t so easy to mistake for one another?

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Report: Saints tender Rashid Shaheed for the 2024 season

OTC’s Jason Fitzgerald reports the New Orleans Saints have tendered Rashid Shaheed for the 2024 season. But when can he sign a real extension?

There it is: The New Orleans Saints have tendered wide receiver Rashid Shaheed for the 2024 season, per Over The Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald. Shaheed was an exclusive rights free agent whose only options were to play for the Saints on a qualifying offer (the NFL minimum salary) or sit out a year.

Obviously, he was going to be coming back, but it’s good to have that confirmed so focus can turn to his fit in Klint Kubiak’s offense. Shaheed finished the 2023 season with the 10th-most all-purpose yards in the NFL and earned a Pro Bowl Games appearance for his work on special teams (as well as a spot on the All-Pro team).

Shaheed was one of just two players to gain more than 300 yards from scrimmage as well as 300-plus yards on both kick returns and punt returns, and he vastly outplayed his competitor. Denver Broncos rookie Marvin Mims, the AFC Pro Bowler kick returns specialist, totaled 22 receptions for 377 yards with a touchdown catch. Shaheed caught 46 passes for 719 yards, scoring five times.

He’s a special player. But after signing this tender he’ll only be under contract through 2024. What’s with that? Why didn’t the Saints sign him to a longer extension?

It’s an easy explanation: the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement doesn’t allow it. Players must accrue three years’ experience (at least six games per season) before they are eligible to sign a multiyear contract. Shaheed will play on the minimum salary of $985,000 in 2024 and go into 2025 as a restricted free agent, when he’s finally eligible to sign a real extension.

But the Saints can drag this out longer if they choose. Shaheed could be forced to play on a restricted free agent tender in 2025, which would be another one-year deal, before finally reaching unrestricted status in 2026. Hopefully both sides can work out an arrangement to keep him in New Orleans long-term without any frustrating negotiations or off-field drama with his contract. However, as we said, that’s still at least a year away.

In the meantime: Shaheed figures to play a key role in the new-look Saints offense as their No. 2 wideout behind Chris Olave. It’s going to  be fascinating to see how Kubiak restocks the receiving corps with just Olave, Shaheed, and second-year pro A.T. Perry under contract for 2024. Last summer the Saints took 13 wide receivers into training camp, maintaining a group of seven during the season (usually rostering five or six, with one or two on the practice squad). With such thin depth we should expect plenty of new additions throughout the offseason, both in free agency and the 2024 NFL draft.

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Little potential for compensatory draft picks in the Saints’ 2025 forecast

Experts see little potential for compensatory draft picks in the Saints’ 2025 forecast. Mickey Loomis must make the most of his choices in 2024:

It’s been good to see the New Orleans Saints changing their valuation of compensatory draft picks in recent years. Acquiring extra draft picks in exchange for losing free agents to other teams has worked out for them. Just look at their past history:

  • 2021: Comp picks in rounds three (Nos. 98 and 105) and six (218)
  • 2022: Comp picks in rounds three (Nos. 98 and 101)
  • 2023: Comp pick in round seven (No. 257)

And while the Saints expect to continue that trend in 2024 (they’re projected to receive three extra picks in the fifth round, per Over The Cap) the forecast for 2025 isn’t looking very favorable. Remember, teams are awarded comp picks in the following year’s draft based off the current year’s free agency results. And New Orleans simply lacks many players who are seen as desirable qualifiers.

OTC’s Nick Korte explains:

The Saints remain devoted to keeping core players on their roster, no matter how much they amortize the cap dollars associated with their contracts to do so. This regularly leaves them with few CFA worthy players hitting free agency. But on the other hand, filling up on incumbent players also tends to make them avoid free agency. In the past couple of seasons this has generated some comp picks for them, but typically they do not care much about them, and this could be one of those seasons where they revert to their mean.

Many of the Saints’ top players expected to become available will not qualify for the comp picks formula: guys like Jameis Winston, Michael Thomas, and Andrus Peat. It’s possible that backups on defense earn better opportunities and higher salaries elsewhere, but any signings the Saints make could balance out the losses (and possible comp picks) for defensive tackle Malcolm Roach, linebacker Zack Baun, or cornerback Isaac Yiadom.

So that means the Saints must make the most of their comp picks while they have them. And fans should expect them to be traded. The Saints have traded every comp pick they’ve received in the last three years:

  • Both third-round comp picks in 2021 were packaged in a trade to move up and pick cornerback Paulson Adebo
  • The seventh-round comp pick in 2021 was traded in a move up for offensive tackle Landon Young
  • Both third-round comp picks in 2022 were traded; No. 98 was used to move up for wide receiver Chris Olave, while No. 101 was traded in the package of picks used to get another first rounder, which became left tackle Trevor Penning
  • And the seventh-round comp pick in 2023 was packaged with tight end Adam Trautman in a trade up, targeting wide receiver A.T. Perry

So this tells us that Saints general manager Mickey Loomis tends to view comp picks as trade ammunition more than anything else. He’s known as an aggressive wheeler-and-dealer on draft day, and recent history lays out his go-to strategy very clearly. We’ll see if the trend continues in 2024, but the Saints may not have the promise of extra picks to lean on in 2025, depending on how free agency plays out this March.

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NFL analyst says Saints’ 2023 draft class made a poor first impression

This NFL analyst graded the New Orleans Saints’ 2023 draft class a C+, saying that they made a poor first impression:

Looking back on it now, the biggest critique of the 2023 New Orleans Saints draft class was overall inactivity. Defensive tackle Bryan Bresee was the only draftee you can point to who played significant time, so it’s not difficult to see why NFL.com’s Eric Edholm gave the draft class a C+ grade. Jordan Howden also filled in at safety due to injuries, but he spent half of the season only coming in for specific packages. It’s just difficult to grade a class high when most of the players didn’t see the field often.

Defensive end Isaiah Foskey, offensive lineman Nick Saldiveri and quarterback Jake Haener were absolute non-factors in 2023. Haener was a third-string quarterback, as expected, so there’s no problem there. Foskey and Saldiveri, however, were disappointments this year. The Saints’ pass rush struggled so badly that defensive end is still looked at as a priority to many this offseason. Despite that, Foskey barely saw the field. The health of the offensive line was depleted, but there was still no Saldiveri, who ended the year with his own injury.

The grade is fair but still tough to swallow. New Orleans’ rookie draft class was disappointing in their debut season, but that doesn’t mean they can’t improve. Howden, wide receiver A.T. Perry and running back Kendre Miller all flashed the potential to be quality players with more snaps. Time will tell if Foskey or Saldiveri make an impact, but it feels as if they’ll be pushed down the depth chart this offseason. The only sure thing the Saints have from their draft class is Bresee. Hopefully he can continue to dodge the injury bug that trailed him in college and make plays for the defensive line.

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Two other teams sign a couple of former Saints wide receivers

The Saints only have a handful of receivers signed for 2024, and players they brought into training camp last year are getting snapped up by other teams:

Do the New Orleans Saints have a problem at wide receiver? Maybe, maybe not. Not in the sense that they don’t have good players: Chris Olave and A.T. Perry are returning for 2024, and Rashid Shaheed will come back on an exclusive-rights free agent deal, too.

But Michael Thomas is on the way out; his contract is set up for him to be released as a post-June 1 cut in March. And at some point the Saints need to start signing players to fill out practice reps at training camp. New Orleans brought a dozen receivers into camp last summer and right now they only have two (technically three). Of those twelve receivers, three are still with the Saints (including Thomas), three are on other teams, and six are free agents (including Shaheed, whose only CBA-allowed option is to re-sign with the Saints). A thirteenth receiver, Jontre Kirklin, arrived late in camp and is currently competing with the UFL’s San Antonio Brahmas.

And some of those players who competed in camp last year are getting snapped up by other teams. The New England Patriots signed former seventh-round draft pick Kawaan Baker to a reserve/future deal this week, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss. So did Tre’Quan Smith, who is going to the Detroit Lions, per KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson.

Several practice squad receivers were not retained after the 2023 season. Fan-favorite rookie Shaquan Davis left for the Philadelphia Eagles. Longtime backup Marquez Callaway signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. There aren’t many familiar names left out there.

Ideally the Saints would add enough quality players to keep them on the practice squad if they’re in consideration at all. But that’s not the point. They could run into trouble relying on a ton of undrafted rookies to fill out the depth chart. Odds are they’ll sign some veterans in free agency in March, though it’s possible a couple of qualifying players could sign reserve/future deals in the near future.

Why the delay? The Saints don’t have a wide receivers coach right now. They know that Klint Kubiak will be their offensive coordinator, but missing a position coach could complicate things. They need a clear vision of what to look for in evaluating new additions. Until Kubiak is officially hired and a receivers coach named, this process may continue to draw out.

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Saints pick a surprising LSU product in Mel Kiper mock draft

The Saints picked a surprising LSU product in Mel Kiper’s latest mock draft, adding a big-time wide receiver in Brian Thomas Jr.:

There’s a long-running narrative that the New Orleans Saints avoid drafting players out of LSU, but it’s not like they pointedly pass on the Tigers each year — it’s just rare for the stars to align so that those players stay in Louisiana after turning pro. And the latest mock draft from ESPN’s Mel Kiper changes that trend, though maybe not in the way the Saints-LSU fan contingent might expect.

It’s not Jayden Daniels going to the Saints at No. 14 overall in Kiper’s most recent projection, but one of his receivers: and it isn’t Malik Nabers, neither. With the top three receivers all being picked inside the top-10, it’s LSU standout Brian Thomas Jr. going to New Orleans. Here’s why Kiper says he’s a good fit:

Derek Carr had an up-and-down debut season in New Orleans, and his sizable contract almost certainly means he’ll be back as the starter in 2024. But what do we know about the playmakers around him? Chris Olave is a star who has put up back-to-back seasons with 1,000 receiving yards. After that? There are big questions. Michael Thomas likely will move on this offseason, while Alvin Kamara has regressed in recent years. And while Rashid Shaheed showed he can be a useful complementary receiver, Carr could use another asset in the receiving game to try to boost this offense.

Thomas, the third of the LSU offensive players off the board in this projection, led the FBS with 17 touchdown catches last season while averaging 17.3 yards per reception. He had just three drops on 93 targets. He can take the top off defenses and be a stellar No. 2 option as a rookie. Plus, the born-and-raised Louisiana kid wouldn’t have to leave the state.

Thomas posted modest numbers through his first two years at LSU before breaking out in 2023 with 68 receptions for 1,177 yards. He primarily lined up out wide in the Tigers’ offense but was still a threat to make plays after the catch (averaging 5.7 yards per catch with the ball in his hands). He went 7-of-13 on contested catches this year (53.8%) and is 17-of-36 (47.2%) on those targets in his career.

Look for the Saints to stock up on receivers this offseason. Right now they have just two of them under contract for 2024 in Chris Olave and A.T. Perry, though Rashid Shaheed will return as an exclusive rights free agent. Michael Thomas is technically signed but the Saints must choose whether to extend his contract or release him from it before free agency starts in March.

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3 players who could have bigger roles for the Saints in 2024

The New Orleans Saints are going to be looking for players to take a step up in 2024, here are three prime candidates to do so next season:

The New Orleans Saints had a tough 2023 campaign, while finishing 9-8 they struggled immensely with consistency and ended up losing the division. However, there were some flashes of high-quality play from younger players, especially those who may not have had a ton of playing time overall.

These types of players are critical to the success of the Saints, as many have started off in a limited role but ended up becoming high-value players. In this article, we will be discussing three players who could end up with bigger roles for the Saints in 2024, why they could see this increase, and whether or not they are likely to break out due to this uptick in snaps.

So without further ado, let’s start with our first player:

Several Saints assistants working with 2024 draft prospects at Shrine Bowl

Several Saints assistant coaches are working with 2024 draft prospects at the East-West Shrine Bowl. New Orleans added 8 players from last year’s event:

The New Orleans Saints will have a heavy presence at this year’s East-West Shrine Bowl, which makes sense given how many future NFL players have participated in the event. And the 2024 draft class is following that pattern.

Three Saints assistant coaches have been assigned to work with draft prospects at this year’s Shrine Bowl, all on the West Team. It’s as good an opportunity for future pros to work with NFL coaches as it is for each of these men to advance their careers.

Here’s a quick look at them and the players they’ll be working with:

WATCH: Derek Carr finds A.T. Perry for nice red zone TD

WATCH: Derek Carr finds Saints rookie A.T. Perry for nice red zone touchdown pass against the Falcons

The New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons met on Sunday afternoon in a battle to keep playoff hopes alive. After the Falcons opened the scoring with a touchdown pass on their first possession, the Saints responded with a touchdown pass of their own.

Derek Carr and Taysom Hill led the Saints down the field, but it was the rookie big-bodied receiver A.T. Perry that came down with the score over the Falcons defender. Perry was a sixth round selection out of Wake Forest by the Saints in the most recent draft. Hopes were that he could come in and act as a red zone threat in the future, with Michael Thomas aging.

It has started to look like that may be the case, as Perry becomes more comfortable in the offense. The Saints will want him to become a more consistent weapon in the future, but he now has three touchdowns and a number of highlight catches from his rookie season.

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Michael Thomas, Marshon Lattimore not expected to return vs. Buccaneers

Saints coach Dennis Allen says he doesn’t expect Michael Thomas or Marshon Lattimore to return this week against the Buccaneers:

Help isn’t on the way ahead of the New Orleans Saints’ most important game of the year. Head coach Dennis Allen said Tuesday that he doesn’t expect  wide receiver Michael Thomas or cornerback Marshon Lattimore to return from injured reserve for Sunday’s game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Both players went on injured reserve after the Saints’ Week 10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings; a helmet to the knee sidelined Thomas, while Lattimore’s ankle was injured when a teammate rolled up on him while making a tackle. So they’re both going to miss at least six games this season after missing most of last year with unrelated injuries.

Will the third time be the charm in 2024? The team must make a decision on Thomas, choosing to either extend his contract again or release him, but Lattimore’s contract makes it tough to move on from him. Paulson Adebo has played really well in his absence and there are some young promising players at receiver like A.T. Perry who could use more reps. We’ll see how things work out in the spring, but for now the Saints need to figure out ways to win without some of their best players.

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