The New Orleans Saints' schedule is locked in, the rookies have had their first taste of professional football, and now the real thing is starting to get under way for 2025.
The team will hold its first of three Organized Team Activities (OTAs) Thursday at their Metairie facility.
New Orleans will conduct a roughly 90-minute practice Thursday, offering the first glimpse of new head coach Kellen Moore working with what should be most of his 2025 squad — the session is voluntary for players to attend, but most of the roster typically shows up for these workouts.
Here are some things we'll be watching for when the Saints take the field as a team for the first time Thursday.
Welcome back?
Will the Saints have both of their top receivers back on the field Thursday?
It seems like a good possibility that both Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed will be present at Thursday's voluntary session, based on the team's social media posts from earlier off-season workouts. The team also has shared images of Olave catching passes in the team's indoor facility.
Both Olave and Shaheed are coming off disappointing 2024 seasons that were cut short because of injury. For Shaheed, it was a torn meniscus that required season-ending surgery after six games. For Olave, it was a series of concussions that forced him to miss the final eight games.
The normal recovery timeline for Shaheed's injury should have had him ready this spring, and Olave was practicing with the Saints by the end of last year. The pair make up the most dynamic part of the Saints offense, and it would be good to see them back in the fold.
And, generally speaking, the receiver group will be interesting to watch. Free-agent signee Brandin Cooks adds a veteran element to the group, but he is a similar type of player to Shaheed and Olave, both in terms of stature and what he does well. The Saints also have a group of players who were pressed into larger duty last year who are looking to catch the eye of the new staff, including Bub Means, Cedrick Wilson, Dante Pettis and Kevin Austin.
It still feels possible that the Saints look to add a possession receiver to that group this summer — unless recent signing Donovan Peoples-Jones is able to recreate what he did in 2022 with the Cleveland Browns.
The small QB details
One of the more interesting comments Moore made earlier this week at the Saints Hall of Fame Celebrity Golf Classic was about his quarterbacks and how he is evaluating them at this stage of the offseason.
"It's going to be a lot on the process and less some of the results as we go through this phase, because again, there's not much competitiveness," Moore said. "We will do some seven-on-seven, but a lot of it is their understanding, taking it from the classroom to the field for the first time. Most of the decision-making factors will come in training camp and preseason football."
Translation: Don't put too much stock in a quarterback ripping a post route or a misdiagnosing a read that leads to an interception — at least at this stage of the game.
New Orleans has four quarterbacks on its roster with a combined total of seven NFL starts. What Moore is saying is that the coaching staff is going to pay close attention to the smaller details — how a quarterback gets the offense in and out of the huddle, what he is doing in the classroom and how he is operating the offense — versus the highlight-reel stuff that catches the eye.
Also asking ...
How are the offensive linemen lining up? During rookie minicamp, the Saints moved first-round pick Kelvin Banks Jr. all over the offensive line. Will they continue to do that with Banks, a college left tackle whom some thought would be best at guard in the NFL? Will they also do it with one or both of last year's starting tackles, Taliese Fuaga and Trevor Penning?
What are the Saints going to do with this defensive line? New Orleans returned almost its entire defensive front from last season, with the headline offseason move being a splashy new contract for defensive end Chase Young. But the Saints also have a new defensive coordinator who will do things a different way than longtime defensive play-caller Dennis Allen. Will we see Young and Carl Granderson — and Cam Jordan and Isaiah Foskey? — do some stand-up edge rushing? Will rookie Vernon Broughton play some 3-4 defensive end and switch inside for sub defensive packages?
Where does Velus Jones fit in the picture? The Saints took a low-risk flier on the former third-round pick this offseason, and though he was drafted as a receiver, he is currently listed as a running back on the Saints roster. Other teams have struggled to find a role for Jones, who has 20 career rushing attempts and 14 career receptions, so it will be interesting to see what Moore has in mind.