When it came time for the rubber to meet the road, the New Orleans Saints showed Juwan Johnson they wanted him back for the 2025 season and beyond.
New Orleans signed Johnson, an unrestricted free agent, to a three-year, $30 million deal. The contract made Johnson the NFL’s 12th highest-paid tight end by average annual value, and now the expectation is that the new coaching staff is going to get him to play like it.
The flashes have been there for Johnson in the past, but the consistency has not. While he established career highs in receptions (50) and receiving yards (548) last season, he continued his career trend of being a feast-or-famine pass catcher.
With Kellen Moore now calling plays, the hope is that Johnson can be a more consistently dependable option in the passing attack — especially when considering the recent injury history in the wide receiver corps. And the Saints are going to need Johnson early, as two other key components in this group are coming off major injuries suffered late last season.
Depth chart (Name, height, weight, NFL experience)
Juwan Johnson, 6-4, 241, 6
Foster Moreau, 6-4, 250, 7
Taysom Hill, 6-2, 221, 9
Jack Stoll, 6-4, 247, 5
Dallin Holker, 6-3, 241, 2
Moliki Matavao, 6-8, 243, R
Michael Jacobson, 6-7, 244, 1
Treyton Welch, 6-4, 240, 1
Seth Green, 6-3, 242, 1
Best case
With Moore working the levers of the offense, the Saints finally create opportunities for Johnson to consistently affect the game as a pass catcher.
This completely new style of offense may benefit Johnson more than others. He has been used as a vertical receiving threat throughout his career, averaging at least 8.3 air yards per target in all but one of his five NFL seasons. He averaged exactly that number last season, slotting him slightly behind receivers such as Ja’Marr Chase (8.9) and Davante Adams (8.6), and ahead of players such as Amon-Ra St. Brown (8.0) and CeeDee Lamb (8.0).
Now consider Moore’s history: None of his Eagles tight ends averaged better than 6.9 air yards per target last year, while tight end Dalton Schultz topped out at 7.3 air yards per target in his final three seasons with Moore calling plays in Dallas. But all of those players were efficient and had opportunities to run after the catch.
Philadelphia’s top two tight ends last year, Dallas Goedert and Grant Calcaterra, caught better than 80% of their targets. Goedert racked up 52.4% of his yards after the catch, while Calcaterra was at 45.6%. Johnson, whose best trait is his athleticism, accounted for 41.6% of his yards after the catch.
What if Moore can find opportunities to increase that by giving Johnson more chances to get the ball in his hands early? Johnson moves fluidly with the ball in his hands, and he has shown explosive ability in the open field. This is something the Saints can tap into to get the most out of him without simply relying on Johnson to be a vertical threat.
The Saints also hope for speedy recoveries for Moreau and Hill, though with Hill in particular, that’s probably asking a lot. He’s still just eight months removed from a major knee injury, and even if he were to complete a miracle comeback to return somewhere near the middle of the season, New Orleans likely would have to ease him back into the fold.
The Saints also hope some combination of Jack Stoll and Moliki Matavao can hold down the traditional in-line tight end role to give the team some additional size and grit at the point of attack until Moreau and Hill are ready to return.
Worst case
Johnson is the player he always has been — good in spurts, but always leaving you wondering if there’s more there — and the Saints don’t have the proper depth to be functional at the position.
The tight ends are probably going to be important in this offense — because they have been in Moore’s history and because of the current state of the roster. Given the size limitations of the wide receivers and the likelihood the team is going to have to lean on the run game while a young quarterback is getting up to speed in the NFL, the tight ends likely will serve a critical dual purpose.
If Johnson is unable to take a step forward, it’s going to put more stress on the receivers to shoulder the burden in the passing game. If the group as a whole cannot play at least a neutral role in the run-blocking game, it could put whatever young quarterback wins the job in more precarious down-and-distance scenarios.
Considering the contract the Saints signed Johnson to this offseason, which includes $21.25 in guarantees, a failure to get more consistent play out of him in his age 29 season would be a big organizational miscalculation.
A prediction in 10 words or less.
Kellen Moore finds a way to unlock Juwan Johnson.