Saints first-round wide receiver Jordyn Tyson says it’s going to get ugly for opposing defenses trying to cover both he and Chris Olave.
“It’s going to be amazing. Take pressure off each other make our job easier. Us one on one? It’s gonna get ugly,” Tyson said.
Tyson said he thinks his own game is a lot like Olave’s, although he knows that he still has to prove himself while Olave has already shown what he can do with three 1,000-yard seasons in the NFL.
“He’s kind of like me, but he’s proven himself,” Tyson said.
Tyson is also eager to play with Saints quarterback Tyler Shough.
“He’s a great quarterback,” Tyson said of Shough. “Great player, going to continue to do great things.”
The Saints’ offense started to turn a corner late last season, and they’re hoping that with Tyson added to the mix, their offense could be a thing of beauty this year.
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Saints quarterback Tyler Shough has a new target.
The Saints selected Arizona State wide receiver Jordyn Tyson with the No. 8 pick in the 2026 NFL draft.
Shough had said before the draft that he’d love to see the Saints select a wide receiver, and they’ve given him his wish.
Tyson is a big-time talent, but injuries are a concern. He did not run at the Scouting Combine or Arizona State’s Pro Day while recovering from a hamstring injury, but he worked out for NFL teams last week and from all accounts looked great.
The hamstring was far from the first injury Tyson suffered during his college career. He tore his ACL as a freshman at Colorado, and after transferring to Arizona State he broke his collarbone. When healthy, he’s a dynamic playmaker who could be a great addition to an NFL team. The Saints will hope he’s healthier in the NFL than he was in college.
Don’t look for the Saints to make a big move up the draft board on Thursday night.
They are currently slated to pick eighth after going 6-11 during the 2025 season and that record would have looked much worse without four wins in their final five games. On Wednesday, General Manager Mickey Loomis said that was an encouraging run but that it didn’t leave the team feeling like there’s a single player who could vault them into contention.
“When you have a Drew Brees — when you have that caliber of quarterback — you always feel like you’re one player away,” Loomis said, via the team’s website. “And so, ‘Man, let’s go get the one player.’ And when you have a young quarterback and you’re developing your roster, you’re not one player away. So you’re less inclined to give up a number of assets to get one player. We’re not one player away. That’s a five-game stretch or a six-game stretch. I don’t want to read too much into that. We’re excited, we’re optimistic about our future, but by no means have we arrived anywhere.”
Quarterback Tyler Shough was in the center of that winning close to the season and the Saints hope that it was a sign of things to come, but more evidence will be needed before the team considers a big swing.
Running back Alvin Kamara’s status with the Saints has been a topic of conversation all offseason and the outlook could shift over the next few days.
Kamara’s role came under the spotlight after the team signed Travis Etienne as a free agent and the team has repeatedly stopped short of committing to anything other than the fact that Kamara is currently on the roster. Kamara’s longtime teammate Cam Jordan isn’t on the roster at the moment and the prospect of the free agent’s return to New Orleans has been another frequent talking point the last few months.
On Wednesday, Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis said that this week’s draft might factor into how things play out for both players.
“I think that it could impact it,” Loomis said, via Jeff Nowak of WWL. “You know, we’ll see what happens, and that goes both ways, it could impact them, from their perspective as well as ours.”
There will be other veterans around the league who see their situations change because of how things go down over seven rounds in Pittsburgh and that will likely spur another round of roster moves as teams move closer to the start of the 2026 season.
Offensive lineman Shane Lemieux has announced his retirement.
Lemieux made the announcement in a post to his LinkedIn account. Lemieux wrote that he dreamed of spending at least a decade in the NFL when the Giants drafted him in the fifth round in 2020, but “five surgeries and more time in the training room than on the field” led to his decision to walk away from the game.
Lemieux played 12 games and made nine starts at guard as a rookie, but only played in six games over his final three seasons with the NFC East club. Knee, toe and biceps injuries contributed to his extended absences from the lineup.
Lemieux moved on to play seven games and make four starts for the Saints in 2024 and spent last season on the Seahawks’ practice squad.
This time a year ago, Tyler Shough was nervously awaiting the NFL draft. The Saints made him a second-round selection, the 40th pick overall, and after nine starts last season, he became the face of the franchise.
Shough is excitedly anticipating the three-day draft this week.
The Saints could take a wide receiver, and Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate has already expressed a desire to play with Shough, as has Louisville wideout Chris Bell, a former teammate of Shough’s.
“To get that recognition from some of those guys that are obviously really good players, elite-level talent, it’s an honor,” Shough said, via Matthew Paras of nola.com. “But knowing that, we have so much more to grow. And I have so much more to grow.
“So obviously, I want to keep doing everything I can and to get some of those guys would be really good.”
The Saints have the eighth overall pick and have done homework on Tate, Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson and USC’s Makai Lemon. Bell is among others the Saints hosted on a top-30 visit.
“I’ve watched almost all their film from college, and just [out of] curiosity, I think all those guys have had elite-level play,” Shough said. “I think the biggest thing — at least from what I’ve seen all over the draft board — there’s a lot of talent balance.”
Shough made clear he has confidence in the wide receivers on the roster, including Chris Olave, Mason Tipton and Devaughn Vele. He organized workouts with his wideouts earlier this week at Tulane.
Shough hopes to have some new wideouts after this weekend.
“I’m exactly like you guys: I’m excited to find out [who the Saints are going to draft],” Shough said.
The NFL has announced the names of the current and former players that will take part in next week’s draft by announcing second-round picks.
The list includes players associated with all 32 teams, including Cardinals running back James Conner. Conner has strong ties to the Pittsburgh area after playing for the Steelers and attending Pitt, which likely made him an easy choice as the Cardinals’ representative.
Former Bears tackle Jimbo Covert, former Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett, former Chiefs defensive lineman Bill Maas, current Vikings tackle Brian O’Neill, former Jets running back Curtis Martin, and former 49ers punter Andy Lee are other Pitt alums who are set to take part.
The hometown team will be represented by four players. Former Steelers Jerome Bettis and John Stallworth will be joined by Joey Porter Sr. and Jr. next Friday.
The other players taking part and their team affiliations appear below:
Falcons: Michael Turner
Ravens: Mark Ingram
Bills: Shane Conlan
Panthers: Jake Delhomme
Bengals: Ken Anderson
Browns: Phil Dawson
Cowboys: Drew Pearson
Broncos: T.J. Ward
Lions: Calvin Johnson
Packers: John Kuhn
Texans: Billy Miller
Colts: Pat McAfee
Jaguars: Paul Posluszny
Raiders: Matt Millen
Chargers: Shawne Merriman
Rams: Tavon Austin
Dolphins: Dwight Stephenson
Patriots: Deion Branch
Saints: Marques Colston
Giants: Osi Umenyiora
Eagles: Brian Westbrook
Seahawks: Cliff Avril
Buccaneers: Ronde Barber
Titans: Jeffery Simmons
Commanders: Mark Rypien
The Saints have meetings with a couple of wide receivers on the docket for Saturday.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Ted Hurst and Omar Cooper are both slated to visit with the NFC South team.
Hurst had 127 catches for 1,965 yards and 15 touchdowns at Georgia State the last two seasons. He transferred to the school after playing at Valdosta State and is meeting with the Falcons on Friday. Another local prospect, former Georgia defensive tackle Christen Miller, is also in Atlanta.
Hurst is not generally projected to go as early in the draft as Cooper, who starred at Indiana en route to last season’s national title. Cooper is meeting with the Commanders on Friday.
The Saints exercised the fifth-year option on defensive tackle Bryan Bresee’s contract, Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football reports.
The option is worth $13.931 million, fully guaranteed for 2027.
The Saints drafted Bresee with the 29th overall pick in 2023.
He has played 49 games, with 26 starts, in his three seasons, totaling 37 tackles, 2.5 sacks, eight quarterback hits, three pass breakups and a forced fumble.
In 2025, he appeared in 15 games and recorded 37 tackles, five tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, a forced fumble and three pass breakups.
The Saints’ move to sign Travis Etienne as a free agent last month raised questions about Alvin Kamara’s future in New Orleans.
Head coach Kellen Moore said last week that Kamara is “certainly on the roster and part of the running back room” while adding that there’s enough work for multiple backs in the offense. During an appearance on The Jim Rome Show, Etienne said he’s been part of shared backfields in the past and that he thinks it would benefit both players to share the load this season.
“It just makes it better for both of us,” Etienne said. “Every time we’re out there, we want to feel fresh. It keeps the defense on their toes. They’ve gotta worry about two guys instead of one. I feel like it’s only gonna make the team better.”
A strong ground game would seem to be a good thing to help quarterback Tyler Shough continue to progress in his first full season as the team’s starter and it seems like the two-headed approach may be the one they deploy as they work to create it.
