{"id":801944,"date":"2026-03-09T08:09:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T08:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/801944\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T08:09:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T08:09:20","slug":"possible-saints-targets-at-tight-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/801944\/","title":{"rendered":"Possible Saints targets at tight end"},"content":{"rendered":"

March 8, 2026, 3:01 p.m. CT<\/p>\n

Tight end Juwan Johnson of the New Orleans Saints<\/a> had his most productive season last year. Johnson had 77 receptions for 889 yards and 3 touchdowns along with 41 first downs on 102 targets. He was second on the team in targets, catches, and receiving yardage. It was a breakout campaign for the sixth-year converted undrafted wideout. However, the Saints got next to no production from anyone else at the position.<\/p>\n

Aside from Johnson and listed tight end Taysom Hill, the other New Orleans tight ends combined for just 16 catches and 129 yards with 1 touchdown. This was in an offense desperate for production after the wide receiver position had been decimated by injuries. Most expect the Saints to add a starting wideout this offseason. They likely will, but they may also look to pair Johnson with another receiving threat at tight end. Here are some of the options.<\/p>\n

Free agent tight endsDavid Njoku (age 30)Dallas Goedert (31)Cade Otton (27)Chigoziem Okonkwo (26)Isaiah Likely (26)Jonnu Smith (31)<\/p>\n

Tyler Higbee just signed a two-year contract extension to remain with the Los Angeles Rams<\/a>, thinning the market at the position. Njoku is the biggest and most productive name available, despite a down year in Cleveland. He’ll almost certainly be the most expensive, but tight ends typically don’t blow the market up in free agency. There are also several more legitimate receiving options available after Njoku.<\/p>\n

Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\n

Goedert played under Saints head coach Kellen Moore with the Philadelphia Eagles<\/a> in 2024. This past season, he had 591 yards and 11 touchdowns on 60 receptions, with the latter two being the best of his eight-year career. Under Moore, Goedert had 42 catches and 496 yards in only 10 games with a career-high 80.8% catch percentage.<\/p>\n

Otton is another player the Saints know well after four years with division rival Tampa Bay. He wasn’t a big part of the passing attack, but averaged 51 catches and 505 yards per season. Otton is also the most well-rounded receiver and blocker of the available free agent tight ends.<\/p>\n

Saints’ outlook at tight end<\/p>\n

After signing Juwan Johnson to a lucrative extension last offseason, it’s hard to imagine the Saints offering the same kind of deal to a Njoku or Likely. Goedert may be a less expensive option and would make a good pairing in Moore’s offense. If Otton or Okonkwo slip through the cracks, they’d be great additions to the offense. Tight ends don’t typically don’t command huge contracts on the open market, but the Saints also haven’t paid a lot of attention to the position in recent years. Perhaps that changes this offseason, with two receiving tight ends creating major matchup advantages against most defenses.<\/p>\n

New Orleans saw up close how much of a difference maker Okonkwo can be. He’s coming off a 56-catch year for 560 yards, both the best of his four-year career. Likely seems to be a popular match to the Saints for those predicting a tight end addition. He’s always shown terrific potential, but the production hasn’t matched the raw talent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March 8, 2026, 3:01 p.m. CT Tight end Juwan Johnson of the New Orleans Saints had his most…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":801945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2076],"tags":[95878,7,896,55,2572,2571,6,397,15505,96128,95882,101766,98074,100896,96709,102302,98342,104096,95924,95896,96129,95888,95895,95906,96191,95883,96239,102107,95926,95881],"class_list":["post-801944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-orleans-saints","tag-accessfree","tag-football","tag-new-orleans","tag-new-orleans-saints","tag-neworleans","tag-neworleanssaints","tag-nfl","tag-saints","tag-sstssportsnflsaints","tag-sstsnsaints","tag-tagamerican-football","tag-tagcade-otton","tag-tagchigoziem-okonkwo","tag-tagdallas-goedert","tag-tagdavid-njoku","tag-tagisaiah-likely","tag-tagjonnu-smith","tag-tagjuwan-johnson","tag-taglos-angeles-rams","tag-tagnational-sports","tag-tagnew-orleans-saints","tag-tagnfl","tag-tagnfl-hub","tag-tagoverall-positive","tag-tagphiladelphia-eagles","tag-tagsports-news","tag-tagtampa-bay-buccaneers","tag-tagtaysom-hill","tag-tagtyler-higbee","tag-typestory"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/801945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}