The Saints spent the 2026 offseason trying to answer a simple question: what does this team want to be now?
That question hung over New Orleans after a 2025 season that ended at 6-11 and fourth place in the NFC South. The roster had a first-year head coach, no settled starting quarterback, a pile of injuries, and little sense of direction. This spring was about changing that picture, and the front office wasted no time getting to work.
When free agency opened, Mickey Loomis and Kellen Moore attacked the roster in a hurry. New Orleans added G David Edwards from the Buffalo Bills, LB Kaden Elliss from the Atlanta Falcons, RB Travis Etienne Jr. from the Jacksonville Jaguars, TE Noah Fant from the Cincinnati Bengals, and P Ryan Wright from the Minnesota Vikings.
Edwards was a major target because of the kind of offenses he has blocked for in recent years, including the Los Angeles Rams and Bills. Elliss and Wright both brought a homecoming feel to their arrivals.
Elliss began his NFL career with the Saints in 2019 before spending three years in Atlanta with the “dirty birds.” Wright didn’t have pro ties to New Orleans, but he did play at Tulane.
The biggest headline, though, was Etienne Jr. New Orleans brought in the Louisiana native after Alvin Kamara’s career-low statistical season, clearly looking for a jolt in an offense that had too often sputtered.
Fant came in as another notable addition, a player the Saints had been connected to before. He gives New Orleans a veteran option who can contribute on the field while also helping guide a young WR and TE room.
Not every major move went the Saints’ way, and that mattered on a roster still in transition. Of the three big defensive names the team was tied to this offseason, only one came back.
Cam Jordan agreed to return for one final season, keeping his historic run in New Orleans going a little longer. But Demario Davis and Alontae Taylor both left in free agency.
That kind of turnover is tough for a younger group, especially when leadership walks out the door on one side of the ball. New Orleans tried to offset that with a strong draft, highlighted by WR Jordyn Tyson going eighth overall. The Saints also made a mid-round deal with the Las Vegas Raiders, sending a fifth-round pick in exchange for edge rusher Tyree Wilson, a former first-round selection.
The overall reaction inside Canal Street Chronicles landed in a pretty clear place. In polling members and staff writers, the Saints’ offseason earned an average grade of B.
That wasn’t quite enough for an A in many eyes, and the reasons were straightforward: losing Davis from the linebacker group, not having enough leadership among the remaining veterans, and failing to make the defense the clear center of improvement.
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