The Saints may have suffered a major blow to their defense.
Defensive lineman Bryan Bresee left Wednesday’s opening practice of training camp with a knee injury and NFL Media reports that the fear is that he tore his ACL. If that is confirmed, Bresee will miss the entire 2026 season and the Saints could be on the hunt for more help on their defensive front.
Bresee was a 2023 first-round pick in New Orleans and he started all 15 games he played during the 2025 season. He has 86 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, 14.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles in 49 career games for the team.
The Saints exercised Bresee’s fifth-year option this offseason, so he is under contract for next season.
Saints Clips
Wide receiver Chris Olave’s contract was a topic of conversation at Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis’s press conference on Tuesday.
Olave is in the final year of his rookie deal after posting career highs across the board during the 2025 season and Loomis said that the team is working to sign him to an extension in the near future.
“We’re having a lot of discussions,” Loomis said. “You have meetings and we’re just not there yet. We’re hopeful. . . . We want to get it done. Chris and his agents, I know they want to get it done. But it’s got to be right for both parties.”
Olave was limited this offseason after missing the final game of last season with a blood clot in his lung. He’s also dealt with multiple concussions and Loomis called his injury history “an element” to the conversations about his next contract, but he’s ready for a full workload this summer and the health issues haven’t dimmed the Saints’ desire to keep Olave in their offense.
Saints wide receiver Chris Olave was not fully cleared for football activities during the offseason program, but he’s set to hit the field without restrictions at training camp.
Olave missed Week 18 because of a blood clot in his lung and the team limited his work during the spring in order to continue monitoring the situation. On Tuesday, General Manager Mickey Loomis said that Olave has been given the green light to do everything during this summer’s practices.
That’s also the case for wideout Jordyn Tyson. The first-round pick dealt with a hamstring injury this offseason, but will join Olave on the field on Wednesday.
Defensive lineman Keeshawn Silver and wide receiver Mason Tipton will open camp on the physically unable to perform list. Defensive lineman Zxavian Harris and tight end Cody Hardy are on the non-football injury list.
The NFL Players Association released its annual Rising Stars list on Tuesday and the first overall pick of this year’s draft is one of the players at the top.
Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza is No. 1 on the list of the 10 rookies that the NFLPA projects to be future members of the Top 50 list of licensed player product sales. There is also a list of 10 players with NFL experience who have not been on the Top 50 and it is topped by Saints quarterback Tyler Shough.
Mendoza is followed on the list by Cowboys safety Caleb Downs, Cardinals running back Jeremiyah Love, Titans wide receiver Carnell Tate, Eagles wide receiver Makai Lemon, Commanders linebacker Sonny Styles, Saints wide receiver Jordyn Tyson, Giants linebacker Arvell Reese, Ravens wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane, and Buccaneers edge rusher Rueben Bain.
The list of veteran players also includes Bears tight end Colston Loveland, Raiders tight end Brock Bowers, Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker, Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, Buccaneers wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, Cardinals tight end Trey McBride, Dolphins running back De’Von Achane, Bills running back James Cook, and Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez.
On Wednesday, news emerged that running back Alvin Kamara had agreed to a new deal to stick with the Saints.
Now there are more reported details of the contract.
Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Kamara will earn $6 million in base salary for 2026 with the opportunity to earn up to $8.5 million with incentives.
Kamara’s previous contract had him slated to count $10.45 million against the salary cap in 2026.
Kamara, 30, has spent his entire career with New Orleans since the club selected him in the third round of the 2017 draft.
Last season, Kamara totaled 657 yards from scrimmage, finishing 2025 with 471 yards rushing with one touchdown along with 33 receptions for 186 yards.
The Saints added Travis Etienne at running back in free agency this offseason, which could diminish Kamara’s role in the offense. But the veteran is now set to begin his 10th season with New Orleans on a new deal.
Tyler Shough is the Saints’ unquestioned starter heading into 2026. The quarterback, in only his second season, is also the team’s leader.
Shough organized an outing with teammates in San Diego.
He has said Drew Brees helped set up the outing, and Shough’s social media photos and video on Wednesday show the Hall of Fame quarterback.
Shough’s teammates Juwan Johnson, Chris Olave, Travis Etienne, Bryce Lance, Barion Brown, Audric Estime and Noah Fant are among those in Shough’s post, per Katherine Terrell of ESPN.
In his rookie season, the second-round pick went 5-4 as a starter and completed 67.6 percent of his passes for 2,384 yards with 10 touchdowns and six interceptions.
Alvin Kamara is staying in New Orleans another season.
The Saints are finalizing a new deal with the running back, Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football reports.
The Saints tweaked Kamara’s contract earlier this offseason, creating speculation about his future with the team after New Orleans signed Travis Etienne. Kamara was scheduled to count $10.45 million against the salary cap in 2026.
The Saints drafted Kamara in 2017, and he has earned five Pro Bowls in his nine seasons.
He played 11 games in 2025, with 131 carries for a career-low 471 yards and a career-low one touchdown.
If former Raiders and Saints quarterback Derek Carr wants to play again, there are teams interested in his services. But so far, he hasn’t heard an offer intriguing enough for him to accept.
Carr said on NFL Network today that teams have contacted him about potentially coming out of retirement, and he isn’t ruling it out. Carr did not name those teams, but if they didn’t get permission from the Saints first, they were violating the NFL’s tampering rules. Carr was still under contract with the Saints when he retired, and other teams can’t contact him without the Saints’ permission. The Saints would also likely want trade compensation from any team that wanted Carr.
“I never say never,” Carr said. “It would take a special situation. There were multiple teams that reached out to me this offseason. I won’t say who or how, but they reached out and were gauging my interest on what I wanted to do. They were good, solid football teams.”
Carr said he will only return if a Super Bowl contender needs him.
“I’m just at the point where I just want to win. I want to win. So if I were to do it, it would have to be a special team that maybe lost somebody or needed somebody, but even then, it’s not guaranteed,” Carr said. “I’m having too much fun hanging out with my wife, hanging out with my kids, and trying to get good at golf. So it would take a special deal.”
When Carr announced his retirement last year, he and the Saints both said his injured shoulder would have hampered his ability to keep playing. But Carr now says that if the right team calls at the right time, he’ll be in shape and ready to play — even if he doesn’t anticipate that happening.
“I’m always training,” Carr said. “I’ll be in shape and ready, but probably not. I’ll probably be just coaching my kids.”
The 35-year-old Carr was drafted by the Raiders in 2014, played nine seasons with them, and then played his final two seasons with the Saints in 2023 and 2024. Now, after a year out of football, he’s not ruling out playing for a third team.
Saints quarterback Tyler Shough got a new target in the first round of this year’s draft when the team took wide receiver Jordyn Tyson, but there was a sense of familiarity once Shough and Tyson began to work together this spring.
During an appearance on the Green Light with Chris Long podcast, Shough told the former NFL defensive end that Tyson is like “a carbon copy” of another Saints wideout. Shough said that Chris Olave is the “perfect combination” of speed and finesse and that Tyson shares “that feel with these underneath routes and big playability” with his more experienced teammate.
Shough’s expanded thoughts about what Tyson brings to the offense drove home his confidence in the rookie’s ceiling.
“His brother’s an NBA player for the Cavs, Jaylen,” Shough said. “He’s kind of just like an elite hooper. Like he’s just going to go; he’s going to hoop regardless. Like he’s going to go jump out the gym on somebody. He’s going to get open in the most crazy way, but he’s also kind of got this grittiness to him that I feel like not a lot of people give him credit for.”
One other thing that Tyson and Olave have in common is that they have both missed chunks of time with injuries over the course of their careers. Avoiding reprises of those absences will be key to making sure that their partnership with Slough blossoms to its full potential.
The Saints will kick off training camp on July 29 and their first open practice of the summer will be held the next day.
It will be the first of nine sessions that will be open to members of the general public. They will also hold open workouts on July 31, August 2-3, August 5, August 8-9, August 13 and August 29.
The August 13 practice will be a joint session with the Jaguars. The team will also practice with the Cowboys and Rams during a five-day trip to Los Angeles ahead of a preseason game against the Rams.
All of the practices will take place at the Saints’ facility except for the August 29 workout. That will be held at Tulane’s Yulman Stadium.
