New Orleans Saints News

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave re-emerged as a high-value PPR wide receiver in 2025, recording 100 receptions for 1,163 yards and nine touchdowns on 156 targets across 16 games. After a lost season in which injuries forced him to miss nine games in 2024, Olave was able to re-establish himself as the clear number one target in New Orleans. He also got some much-needed help in the quarterback department in the second half of the year after Tyler Shough took over as the Saints' QB1. Olave's worrying track record of concussion issues remains a red flag for his long-term dynasty outlook. However, he's proven to be an effective high-volume target earner as long as he's on the field. Particularly with the improved offensive environment around him, Olave's value is trending up heading into 2026.

Before agreeing to a four-year, $48 million deal with the New Orleans Saints in the opening hours of free agency, running back Travis Etienne Jr. had finished as the RB17 or better in three of his four seasons with the Jaguars, and twice inside the top 10. While it was his elite efficiency that got him there in 2022, averaging over five yards per carry, his 2023 campaign was buoyed by increased goal-line usage and his resulting 11 rushing touchdowns. After a down year in 2024, he put together perhaps his most complete season in 2025, finishing the year with 1,399 yards from scrimmage and 13 total touchdowns. Now part of a Saints offense that showed much to be excited about down the stretch, Etienne is expected to see the lion's share of the work out of a backfield that heads into the draft with a soon-to-be-31-year-old Alvin Kamara, the oft-injured Kendre Miller, and 2025 sixth-round pick Devin Neal. After hitting a top-three dynasty value in his first year as a starter, the 27-year-old Etienne is now RotoBaller's RB18, presenting rebuilding managers with a rare second sell-high window after he had fallen as low as RB40 on KeepTradeCut.

New Orleans Saints tight end Juwan Johnson had the most productive season of his career in 2025, recording 77 receptions for 889 yards and three touchdowns on 102 targets across 17 games. The 29-year-old's 102 targets were good for second on the team behind only star wide receiver Chris Olave. While New Orleans signed veteran tight end Noah Fant in free agency, Johnson should function as the Saints' lead receiver at the position once again in 2026. Additionally, the outlook for New Orleans' pass game overall is trending up after quarterback Tyler Shough's emergence as a capable signal-caller down the back half of 2025. Johnson may not offer fantasy managers explosive upside, but he should provide a safe production floor, especially in PPR-scoring formats. Johnson's short-term dynasty value is rising after his solid year in 2025.

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Devaughn Vele was acquired via trade weeks before the start of the 2025 season after seeing scattered success as a rookie with the Denver Broncos. New Orleans gave up a fourth and seventh round pick for the 2024 seventh-rounder, but with so little time to learn the new system, he was rarely used early in the year, garnering only 54 yards on six catches before the team's Week 11 bye, despite the Saints passing at one of the league's highest volumes. In the four weeks coming out of the bye, his involvement increased substantially, twice leading the team in targets, offering a strong complementary option to Chris Olave, and becoming a trusted middle-of-the-field presence for Tyler Shough. Vele's season ended prematurely when a shoulder injury landed him on injured reserve, but in those four post-bye contests, he averaged 4.8 receptions for 59.8 yards, and following his first full offseason with the team, he could see similar usage in 2026. The Saints invested real draft capital into Vele, and he has experience operating both from the slot and out wide, so he should be able to find a useful role even if New Orleans does take a receiver early in the upcoming NFL Draft. It should, however, be remembered that Vele came into the league as an older prospect and will turn 29 midway through his third season, so if he doesn't find sustained fantasy relevance in 2026, the window to do so will close quickly.

A rash of injuries has limited New Orleans Saints running back Kendre Miller to only 21 games through his first three years in the league, and when he has found the field, he's done little to prove he can be anything more than a committee back. The 2023 third round pick has averaged less than four yards per carry to this point in his career and has yet to spring a run for more than 18 yards, and with the Saints spending big in free agency for Travis Etienne Jr., Miller could be left battling for scraps behind a back who has carried the ball more than 250 times in three of the past four seasons. Alvin Kamara is still on the roster, and Devin Neal showed flashes in his three late-season starts, making Miller a cut candidate in all but the deepest dynasty leagues.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough emerged as an incredibly strong fantasy option during the second half of his Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign in 2025. Across nine starts, he racked up 2,256 passing yards, 10 passing touchdowns, five interceptions, 174 rushing yards, and three rushing touchdowns. He was particularly dominant following the Saints' bye. From Week 12-18, he had 10 total touchdowns and ranked as the overall QB5 in fantasy football. In addition to his own talent, Shough benefited from the presence of Chris Olave and Juwan Johnson, who will both remain with the team in 2026. Going forward, he also gets another weapon in the form of running back Travis Etienne Jr., who will create opportunities for the offense on the ground and through the air. Given that Shough was the QB9 as a starter and the QB5 during the aforementioned seven-game stretch, there's a very real chance that he can be a top-12 fantasy quarterback during the 2026 season. There's still a window to buy low on him in dynasty leagues, too.

The New Orleans Saints still want to address running back Alvin Kamara's (knee) contract, even after restructuring it to lower their 2026 salary cap from north of $18 million to roughly $10.5 million already this offseason, according to Matthew Paras of The New Orleans Times-Picayune. It's unclear what else the Saints will do with Kamara's contract, but most likely, they'll ask him to take a pay cut after finishing the year injured for the second straight season. If Kamara doesn't give in, the Saints could trade or cut him, too, especially after signing an RB with similar skills in free agency in Travis Etienne Jr. on a four-year, $52 million contract. If the Saints address their backfield in the draft as well, the writing could be on the wall for Kamara's departure in the Big Easy. For now, Kamara's future in New Orleans and his 2026 fantasy football value are very murky. Reports this offseason have even suggested that the 30-year-old veteran and five-time Pro Bowler could retire. Kamara was a major disappointment in 2025 in his ninth year in the NFL, playing in a career-low 11 games while rushing for just 471 yards and one touchdown on 131 carries.

New Orleans Saints running back Devin Neal (hamstring) entered this offseason as one of the most appealing risers in dynasty fantasy football leagues. However, the Saints' unexpected decision to sign Travis Etienne Jr. shook up their backfield, and now, it looks like Neal could be ticketed for the third-string role. In addition to the Etienne signing, it was recently reported that the Saints don't plan to trade Alvin Kamara. He previously expressed his desire to remain in New Orleans for the rest of his career, even threatening retirement if he were traded. Therefore, it looks like both Etienne and Kamara will be ahead of Neal, who had 163 rushing yards, 10 catches, 83 receiving yards, and two touchdowns from Week 12-15 as a rookie last season. There's clearly talent and production there, but his lack of a track record in the NFL will leave him third in the pecking order behind the two veterans. Backfield injuries could open the door for Neal to be a decent handcuff, but otherwise, he has a very difficult path to fantasy relevance.

New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore said at this week's owners' meetings that the team is holding extension talks with top wide receiver Chris Olave. It looks like the Saints are serious about locking up Olave as young quarterback Tyler Shough's top target for the foreseeable future. Last year, when playing with the rookie Shough, Olave caught 66 passes for 780 yards and six touchdowns in 10 games. Overall, the former first-round pass-catcher caught 100 passes for 1,163 yards and nine touchdowns in 16 starts in his fourth year in the league. It was a nice bounce-back campaign for Olave in 2025 after he played in a career-low eight games due to injury in 2024. In his four years in the league, Olave has made a name for himself, catching 291 passes on 457 targets for 3,728 yards and 19 touchdowns in 55 games played. As Shough's top target again in 2026, Olave will be a low-end WR1/high-end WR2 in fantasy football leagues.

New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore said on Monday that "they'll go through the whole offseason process" regarding running backs Alvin Kamara (knee) and Travis Etienne Jr., according to Katherine Terrell of ESPN. Moore added that "you can find a role for everyone" and that if you look around the NFL, "plenty of running backs play." Kamara and Etienne are similar RBs in terms of their explosiveness, but Kamara is 30 years old and has finished the last two seasons on the sidelines due to injuries. Kamara ended the 2025 campaign with a knee injury, and a contract restructure this offseason led many to wonder whether he would retire from professional football. For now, Moore continues to say that Kamara is absolutely on the Saints' roster, but after the team signed Etienne to a four-year, $52 million deal, Kamara's role will certainly shrink if he doesn't hang up his cleats and stays in the Big Easy. The former third-rounder in 2017 out of Tennessee played in a career-low 11 games in 2025 and averaged a career-low 3.6 yards per carry for 471 rushing yards and just one touchdown. Believe it or not, but Kamara has never had a 1,000-yard rushing season in his nine years in the NFL.

New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara (knee), who has been the team's lead back for the last eight seasons, finished the year on Injured Reserve again in 2025 and appears headed for a drastically reduced role in 2026 after the Saints signed Travis Etienne Jr. to a four-year, $52 million contract in free agency. Kamara, 30, played in a career-low 11 games last season and averaged a career-low 3.6 yards per carry for 471 rushing yards and just one touchdown. He added a career-low 33 receptions for 186 yards on 39 targets. Not only is durability now a major concern for the nine-year veteran with plenty of tread on his tires (1,674 rushing attempts), but if he's healthy and stays in New Orleans, he's likely headed for a complementary role behind Etienne in head coach Kellen Moore's offense. Etienne is four years younger than Kamara, and the Saints have a financial incentive to make him the new lead back. There have even been reports of Kamara potentially retiring this offseason, so his fantasy football value is dropping in a hurry in both redraft and dynasty/keeper leagues.

New Orleans Saints running back Travis Etienne Jr. was one of the first names off the board when the legal tampering window opened ahead of the new league year. Now that the dust has settled on the early wave of free agency, his landing spot in the bayou looks to be one of the better fits from a fantasy perspective. In year one under head coach Kellen Moore, the Saints ran one of the fastest paces of play in the league, and their signing of former Bills guard David Edwards to a four-year, $61 million contract should help to bolster the interior of a line that ranked near the bottom of the league in run blocking. Etienne's own signing of a top-of-the-market four-year, $52 million deal also signals the Saints' intent to make him a true workhorse back. His 325 touches in 2023 mark a career-high by a wide margin and uncoincidentally resulted in a career-best RB3 finish in Half-PPR formats.

New Orleans Saints tight end Juwan Johnson broke through with the best year of his career in 2025, recording 77 receptions for 889 yards and three touchdowns on 102 targets across 17 games. Johnson fully emerged as the Saints' TE1, playing at least 70% of his team's offensive snaps in 14 out of 17 contests. While New Orleans added veteran tight end Noah Fant in free agency, Johnson should remain firmly atop the team's depth chart in 2026. In addition, the outlook for the Saints' pass game and offense in general is looking up after the team's strong close to the 2025 season with then-rookie quarterback Tyler Shough under center. Johnson finished second on the team in targets behind only star wideout Chris Olave in 2025, and the Saints have yet to add any significant competition for targets this offseason. Johnson's long-term fantasy upside is limited as he enters his age-30 season, but he profiles as a solid streaming option at tight end with a safe production floor.

The New Orleans Saints have signed quarterback Zach Wilson to a one-year contract, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. Wilson and Spencer Rattler will presumably compete for the backup quarterback role behind Offensive Rookie of the Year finalist Tyler Shough. The former No. 2 pick has bounced around the NFL in a variety of depth roles. Ever since losing his starting job with the New York Jets, he has spent time in Denver, Miami, and now, New Orleans. He has attempted just 11 passes since his departure from the Jets, and he has never thrown for more than nine touchdowns in a single season. This is a very low-risk move for the Saints, giving them an experienced yet unproven quarterback to offer additional depth behind Shough. Even if Wilson ends up starting games in 2026, he'll be tough to trust in fantasy football lineups.

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Devaughn Vele is an intriguing under-the-radar sleeper for 2026. Acquired from the Denver Broncos last year, Vele started to turn a corner following the Saints' Week 11 bye. In four games after the bye, he caught 19 passes for 239 yards and one touchdown. He averaged 12.2 points per game in PPR leagues during that span, ranking as the overall WR21. Unfortunately, Vele injured his shoulder in Week 15 and missed the final three contests of the season. Despite his late-season injury, Vele produced enough when healthy to suggest that he might play a key role on offense in 2026. He's currently listed as the No. 2 receiver on the depth chart, slotting in behind Chris Olave. Quarterback Tyler Shough had a great rookie season, and there's reason to believe he can support two fantasy-relevant receivers next year. We know this Saints coaching staff likes Vele because they traded a fourth-round pick and a seventh-round pick for him, and we know there's a solid rapport between him and Shough. Could it translate to WR3/flex production in 2026? It's certainly possible, which means dynasty managers should consider buying low on Vele this offseason.

After injuries limited him to just eight games played in 2024, New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave rebounded in a big way in 2025. The 25-year-old set career highs across the board by hauling in 100 receptions for 1,163 yards and nine touchdowns on 156 targets across 16 contests. Olave also got some much-needed help from the quarterback position in the form of 2025 second-rounder Tyler Shough, who emerged as the clear QB1 in New Orleans over the second half of the year. Olave's durability is a red flag in his dynasty profile, as he has an alarming history of concussions dating back to his college career at Ohio State. Still, he should be entering 2026 healthy and remains the clear number one pass-catcher in a Saints offense that currently has largely unproven wideouts Devaughn Vele and Mason Tipton penciled in as its WR2 and WR3. Particularly in PPR formats, Olave profiles as a borderline dynasty WR1 heading into 2026.

The New Orleans Saints announced on Tuesday that they agreed to terms on an undisclosed one-year deal with free-agent running back Ty Chandler, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. The Saints added Travis Etienne Jr. to their backfield in free agency and could move on from veteran Alvin Kamara as a result. In the Big Easy, the 27-year-old Chandler will most likely be competing for backup duties with Kendre Miller, Devin Neal, and Audric Estime going into the 2026 season. The former fifth-round pick by the Minnesota Vikings in 2022 out of North Carolina was limited to only three games in 2025 due to injury, carrying the ball 17 times for 47 yards and catching three passes for 11 yards. Chandler's best season came in Year 2 in 2023, when he had 102 rushing attempts for 461 yards and three touchdowns, adding 21 receptions for another 159 yards in 17 games (four starts). With a likely limited role on offense with the Saints, Chandler is, at best, a dynasty/keeper stash for RB depth.

New Orleans Saints running back Kendre Miller was once viewed as a high-upside investment in fantasy football, but his value now continues to decline ahead of the 2026 season. Through the first few years of his career in New Orleans, Miller was held in check by injuries, coaching staff decisions, and the stardom of Alvin Kamara. To this point, he has never played more than eight games in a season. Finally, just as Kamara's career was starting to slow down and the Saints brought in a new coaching staff, it looked like things might be trending up for Miller. At first, they were; he had 65 yards and a touchdown against the Bills in Week 4 of the 2025 season. However, his upside came crashing down as he tore his ACL in Week 7 and was ruled out for the rest of the year. Now fighting his way back from injury once again, Miller faces a new challenge. The Saints made an enormous running back splash in free agency, signing Travis Etienne Jr. to a multi-year deal. The move signals that Etienne will be the clear lead back in New Orleans going forward, with Devin Neal stepping into the No. 2 ball-carrier role -- and that assumes that Kamara's time with the Saints is done. He's still under contract, so there's the potential for the Saints to carry Etienne, Kamara, and Neal into gameday, which could make Miller a healthy scratch. Regardless of whether he ends up as the third or fourth back in New Orleans next year, the bottom line is that Miller continues to trend in the wrong direction in fantasy football, especially as he still works through the components of his ACL recovery. He's droppable in many shallow and mid-depth dynasty formats.

A second-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough took over as his team's starter in Week 8 of his rookie campaign. The 26-year-old went 5-4 as a starter and finished the year with 2,384 passing yards, 10 touchdowns, and six interceptions across 11 games played. Shough showed some ability to make plays with his legs as well, collecting 186 rushing yards and three rushing scores on 45 attempts. While Shough's numbers don't necessarily jump off the page, he finished the year on a high note. Over his last four games played, Shough recorded 1,172 passing yards and five touchdowns while throwing just one interception. He's locked in as the Saints QB1 heading into 2026, and could establish himself as the team's long-term answer at the position with a strong sophomore season. Shough profiles as a solid QB2 in superflex formats heading into 2026 and carries some upside in dynasty leagues as well.

Saints running back Devin Neal was a popular late-season waiver pickup in 2025 when injuries pushed him into a starting role from Weeks 13 through 15, but with New Orleans' signing of Travis Etienne Jr. to a four-year deal, he has to be viewed as one of fantasy's biggest fallers in the opening week of free agency. Neal handled 15 opportunities per game during his brief starting stint, scoring twice in those three games before a hamstring injury landed him on injured reserve to end the year. Now he profiles as a clear backup to Etienne, and with most of the obvious running back-needy teams already bolstering the position through free agency, there is no guarantee the Saints find a trade partner for veteran Alvin Kamara, potentially pushing Neal further down the depth chart.