New Orleans

Saints

Pettis, 30, caught 9-of-11 targets for 127 yards with the Saints last season. The Bills correspondingly released WR Jalen Virgil with a non-football injury designation.

The deal includes $90 million guaranteed. Olave, 26, ranked sixth in the NFL with 151 targets last year despite missing Week 18 due to blood clots in his lungs. He spent the offseason recovering and, aside from holding in yesterday, participating as much as possible. He was cleared to fully practice on Tuesday. He is a fantasy football WR1, playing in an ascending Saints offense.

In a statement posted by the Saints on Wednesday, Hill thanked New Orleans for his nine years spent in the organization. The 35-year-old said he is “still working through what comes next”, but he will not return to the Saints as he remains a free agent. Hill’s market is small but a team may be willing to take a chance on him for a limited offensive role; Broncos head coach Sean Payton utilized Hill a lot in New Orleans and may be willing to have him around again. It’s the end of an era for Hill and the Saints heading into the 2026 season.

Olave missed time during the offseason program while on blood thinners that were prescribed to treat a blood clot found in his lung at the end of the 2025 season. The fact that he wasn’t ready for the start of camp initially seemed concerning, but Moore made it relatively clear that health isn’t an issue. Olave is set to play out the final year of his rookie deal in 2026 and is more than deserving of a new contract. Coming off his second 1,100-yard season in the past three years, the Saints will likely find the money necessary to keep him around long-term before the start of the season.

Bresee will undergo testing to confirm the diagnosis, but it’s safe to assume he is done for the year. He broke out with 7.5 sacks in 2024, but that number fell to 2.5 last year. Bresee is also a liability against the run, so his value largely comes from his production as an interior pass-rusher. The Saints picked up his fifth-year option this offseason, meaning he will remain with the team for the 2027 season before hitting free agency.

Olave was on blood thinners after a blood clot was discovered in his lung prior to Week 18, and had been taking them throughout the offseason program. That’s all done. It’s hard to call Olave “safe” to draft due to the long-term concussion issues he’s dealt with, but he’s as good as he’s going to be. Olave said he felt a contract extension was going to happen “soon” in June, so that’s probably the next tidbit of news incoming on him before the season. Loomis said when asked of an extension that “We’re just not there yet” but “we want to get it done.”

Kamara can earn up to another $2.5 million via incentives. He was initially set to make up to $11.5 million before his deal was restructured on Wednesday. The Saints were pushing for him to take a pay cut this offseason, but it initially looked like Kamara wasn’t going to budge. Instead, he gives some money back and gets to stay in New Orleans, where he has been adamant about wanting to finish his career. Kamara will serve as Travis Etienne’s backup, likely seeing most of his work on passing downs. He could have some FLEX value in PPR leagues, but Etienne should see most of the carries and still some targets.

It’s almost certainly a pay cut for Kamara, but the Saints could also be throwing him a bone with incentives or extra years on his deal. The Saints spent much of the offseason trying to get Kamara to agree to a new deal but had little leverage to make it happen. Kamara has talked about wanting to finish his career in New Orleans, so he may have decided to concede financially in order to stay put. He will likely pitch in on passing downs to take some work of Travis Etienne’s plate. Etienne, however, still figures to see the bulk of the carries and some designed targets.

What does this mean for fantasy purposes? In short, it means he thinks the Saints are going to feature Etienne as an offensive focal point. Underhill believes the Saints are entering a “post-Alvin Kamara world,” although he acknowledges that Kamara may stick around for one more season. That said, Underhill thinks Etienne will operate as a “full-volume starter” and describes him as a “three-down player.” If Kamara does play for the Saints this season, Underhill does not think Kamara’s presence “changes the outcome significantly” for Etienne’s touch count. Toward the end of the segment, Underhill projects Etienne for 235 carries, 1,050 rushing yards, eight rushing touchdowns, 42 catches, 330 receiving yards and 3-4 receiving touchdowns. Splitting the difference on the receiving touchdowns brings the total to 231.5 PPR points, which would have made him the RB15 last season. Treating him as a high-end RB2 with RB1 upside makes sense.

Underhill compared Tyson’s best routes with Shough’s highest-targeted areas of the field and declared, “it’s the same diagram.” Coincidentally, Tyson’s route tree closely overlaps with that of No. 1 WR Chris Olave. Underhill believes that this dynamic will allow coach Kellen Moore to use Tyson and Olave interchangeably. They will both line up in the perimeter and in the slot. Underhill believes Olave will remain the team’s top pass catcher “for the near future,” but eventually both he and Tyson will work as two “top receivers.” Tyson missed most of spring practices with a hamstring injury, but Underhill said he will not worry about the issue unless Tyson misses training camp. Underhill closed the segment by saying a 55/700/5 receiving line on 90 targets is a “safe projection” for Tyson’s rookie season, though he believes Tyson is capable of doing more. The “safe” stat line equates to 155.0 PPR points and would have made him the WR40 last season.