What is the Saints biggest roster need following the 2023 NFL Draft?

Earlier this week, we ran a poll on Twitter asking fans “Now that the draft is over, what position do you feel the Saints still need to address and why?

An overwhelming 63.4% of fans said tight end is the New Orleans Saints biggest need following the draft. Fans pointed towards the lack of depth as the reason why they believed tight end is the biggest need over linebacker and other positions.

As of today, the Saints tight end room consists of Juwan Johnson, Taysom Hill, Lucas Krull, Miller Forristall and 2023 UDFA Joel Wilson. Not a very noteworthy group.

After trading Adam Trautman to the Broncos on day three of this year's draft, the Saints are left with just two players on the roster who have caught a pass at the NFL level.

Johnson showed a lot of promise in 2022, hauling in 42 balls for 508 yards and seven touchdowns, earning him a new two-year, 12 million dollar deal this offseason. Hill on the other hand is listed at tight end, but as we all know he plays just about every position on the field and caught just nine passes for 77 yards and two touchdowns last year.

Krull, Forristall and Wilson are all undrafted free agents who have never caught a pass in the NFL. While the Saints may see some upside in these guys, the Saints could still benefit heavily from adding a veteran tight end before the season starts.

With that being said, let’s take a look at some tight ends the Saints could target now that the draft is over.

As we learned in March, former LSU tight end and New Orleans native Foster Moreau was meeting with the Saints before they discovered he had Hodgkins Lymphoma during his physical with the team. Luckily, they found it early and Moreau is expected to make a full recovery and could return midseason in 2023.

A few weeks later in April, Moreau came back to New Orleans to complete his physical with the Saints. The Saints could still sign Moreau this offseason and designate him to the non-football injury list.

There are a lot of reasons for Moreau to sign with the Saints once he’s ready to return to the field. He is from New Orleans, he played his college ball down the road at LSU and could reunite with former Raiders QB Derek Carr. The Saints willingness to trade Trautman for a sixth round pick gives us some hope that a Moreau signing could be on the horizon, but even if they sign him, the earliest they can hope to have him ready is midseason.

If the Saints decide to go another route, some other notable tight ends still available in free agency include Cameron Brate, Geoff Swaim, Kyle Rudolph and Maxx Williams.

None of these guys are super attractive options, but they all have multiple years of experience playing in the NFL and could provide some more depth at the position.

While the Saints filled a lot of holes in this years draft, they missed a major opportunity to add another playmaker at the tight end position. It’s hard to see a world where the Saints don’t add another tight end to their roster this offseason, but it probably won’t be someone who can come in and make a major impact immediately.

Let us know in the comments who you want to see the Saints add before the start of this season!

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