Juwan Johnson gave the Saints everything they could have asked for in 2025. New Orleans responded by rebuilding the tight end room anyway.
That says plenty about where this offense may be headed. After leaning heavily on shotgun and 11-personnel last season, the Saints spent the offseason adding more bodies and more options at tight end, a clear sign they want the group to do more than just feature one receiver-type threat.
The biggest addition was Noah Fant, the former first-round pick New Orleans tried to land last fall before coming up empty. Then came Oscar Delp, a third-round pick out of Georgia. Together, they replaced Jack Stoll and Foster Moreau, who both left in free agency.
The shape of the room now tells its own story:
Juwan Johnson, 6-foot-4, 231 pounds, 7 years
Noah Fant, 6-4, 249, 8
Oscar Delp, 6-4, 245, R
Moliki Matavao, 6-6, 263, 2
Treyton Welch, 6-4, 240, 1
Zaire Mitchell-Paden, 6-5, 257, 2
Cody Hardy, 6-5, 271, R
Johnson remains the headliner, and last season showed why the Saints were willing to pay him. He finished with 889 receiving yards, the kind of production that rewarded the faith New Orleans showed when it handed him a major extension before the 2025 season.
Only Trey McBride of Arizona and Kyle Pitts of Atlanta had more receiving yards among NFL tight ends last season. Johnson’s total also tied Jimmy Graham for the fourth-most receiving yards by a tight end in a single season in Saints history.
His production picked up after Tyler Shough became the starter. Over nine games with Shough under center, Johnson caught 41 of 50 targets for 521 yards, averaged 12.7 yards per catch and scored twice. In the first eight games, he had 36 catches on 52 targets for 368 yards, averaged 10.2 per reception and found the end zone once.
Johnson also led all Saints pass-catchers in 2025 with +32.8 Expected Points Added as a receiver and 376 yards after the catch.
By now, the Saints know exactly what Johnson brings. He still has the occasional drop, but the converted wide receiver has become a real problem for defenses. He has the size-speed profile to attack the seam and enough burst after the catch to turn routine throws into chunk gains.
The more interesting question is how the rest of the group fits together. Fant and Delp point toward more multiple-tight-end usage in 2026, and Moore essentially backed that up when asked about it this summer.
Delp looks like the key piece. Fant is closer to Johnson in style, a move tight end who does his best work as a pass-catcher. Delp, though, is being viewed as a true “Y” tight end, the kind who can line up off tackle and help in both the passing game and as a blocker.
That kind of structure gives the Saints a chance to create matchup problems. If Delp can hold up at the point of attack, New Orleans can keep defenses honest and open up opportunities to attack base looks with athletic tight ends.
It is still just a theory, and one defenses may eventually solve after seeing how the Rams used heavy tight end packages last season. But the Saints appear set on being more flexible offensively, with the ability to shift their approach depending on the opponent.
That flexibility should come from the tight end room as much as anywhere else.
One camp battle remains worth tracking: the final roster spot. Johnson, Fant and Delp are locked in, and if New Orleans does carry more heavy personnel, it would not be surprising to see the team keep a fourth tight end on the initial 53-man roster after keeping three last season.
If that happens, the competition should come down to Moliki Matavao, Treyton Welch and Zaire Mitchell-Paden. All three saw action in stretches last season, with Mitchell-Paden appearing in eight games, Matavao in six and Welch in three.
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