The New Orleans Saints are in a somewhat odd predicament when it comes to their 2025 roster and their future. On one hand, they have started to build a young core of players that can be built around long-term, but on the other hand, they are retaining multiple veterans who are taking up substantial cap space for the foreseeable future. This has left a pretty mixed bag of talent when it comes to trying to find a direction heading into the season, and ultimately, the vision has never been less clear.
One of the most glaring needs for the team is at wide receiver, where, beyond Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed, there is not an exceptional amount of proven talent. While Bub Means and Brandin Cooks both have talent, they are on opposite sides of proven, with Means being a second-year player who missed much of his rookie season, and Cooks being a tenured veteran who had a down year in 2024. This leaves the question: Do they intend to do anything to really make this position group stand out?
The Pittsburgh Steelers recently traded away George Pickens and a 2027 sixth-round pick to the Dallas Cowboys for a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick. Should the Saints have stepped in and bumped up the offer?
Talent-wise, yes, no doubt, Pickens is a receiver heading into what should be his prime, and has shown to be a quality piece on the outside even when the quarterback situation was in flux. On the other hand, the reactionary nature of his play style and letting his emotions get the best of him create some difficulties. At the end of the day, teams need character and emotion, no doubt about that, it not only generates fan interest but it gets into the head of opposing teams if done correctly.
The issue becomes that he tends to go after people randomly, and it typically backfires as the opponents just use it as fuel, which is a detriment.
Does this justify not looking into him at that price? Not really. He has all the talent to become a long-term viable option at wide receiver, as long as he can rein himself in a bit and really focus on his craft. Talent is talent, as has been displayed in the NFL time and time again. But would it have helped the Saints, who are already going through somewhat of a culture rebuild? Probably not. It seems they may have made the right call here at the end of the day, but the wide receiver spot still needs to be addressed no doubt.