4 free agent wide receivers the Saints should avoid

We’ve gone over four wide receivers the New Orleans Saints should consider in free agency, but there are plenty of names still out there that weren’t covered. In fact, there are quite a few big names still on the market, but the Saints should avoid each them. Why? I’m glad you asked.

Photo by Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Josh Gordon

Josh Gordon could be an elite wide receiver again in the NFL. He looked like a budding superstar-in-the-making for the Cleveland Browns what feels like ages ago, catching 87 passes for 1,646 yards way back in 2013. He just hasn’t really been able to stay on the field since.

His struggles with marijuana are well-documented, and the NFL’s new CBA has now made it a point to not suspend players for future positive tests for marijuana. Unfortunately for Gordon, this move does not appear to be retroactive in nature and Gordon is not automatically reinstated by the NFL. While Gordon’s pot usage might not be an automatic prohibitor in the NFL anymore, a player who struggled with addition in the past is not the kind of person you want to bring to Bourbon Street.

Hard pass.

Ted Ginn Jr.

Teddy Ginn is just a couple of weeks away from turning 35 years old. While there have been receivers who played in the NFL - and played well - at Ginn’s age (Terrell Owens comes to mind), Ginn is essentially a one-trick pony. What he brings to an NFL offense is his speed. Speed wears with age, and the hits he’s taken over 13-year professional career are starting to take a toll. Removing the 2018 season when Ginn played in only 5 games due to injury, Ginn saw all of his stats take a big hit in 2019 - dropping significantly in yards, receptions, and catch rate.

Ginn might still have a little left in the tank, but it should be another team that takes the chance to find out.

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Dez Bryant

This might sound strange considering it feels like Dez has been in the league forever, but he’s still only 31 years old. The concern with Dez isn’t age, though - it’s injury. Bryant hasn’t played in a regular season NFL game since the 2017 season. Coming off a torn Achilles, it’s completely unknown if Bryant can ever return to the caliber of player he once was. However, even before the Achilles tear, he looked like a shell of his former self in his last year with the Dallas Cowboys.

It would be a heart-warming story to try to give Dez another shot after his 2018 signing didn’t pan out, but even in his best-case scenario, he might not present the upside as someone even like Tre’Quan Smith.

Antonio Brown

As much as I like him trolling Julio Jones...Naw.