New Orleans Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed (22) stretches with teammates during the Saints organized team activities at the Saints Practice Facility in Metairie, La., Thursday, May 22, 2025. (Photo by Sophia Germer, The Times-Picayune)
STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER
As much as was new about the new-look New Orleans Saints on Thursday, what stood out was the old.
Sure, the new coaching staff was in place. And a quarterback competition was underway. But for the first time in months, since injuries derailed their season, the Saints had a mostly healthy roster — and what a difference that can make.
If Kellen Moore’s offense is going to succeed in 2025, speed figures to be a crucial part. And on this roster, there’s arguably no one faster than Rashid Shaheed and Chris Olave.
Thursday’s offseason workout was a sharp reminder of that.
“Chris just told me, ‘Yep, (you’ve) got all of us out there now,” quarterback Spencer Rattler said.
As a pair, Olave and Shaheed hadn’t been out on the field together since last October. That was before Shaheed suffered a season-ending meniscus injury and Olave was sidelined with a concussion. Both appeared to be fully healthy on Thursday — to the quarterbacks’ benefit.
Rattler went 8 of 8 during the Saints’ reps of 7-on-7, while second-round quarterback Tyler Shough went 7 of 8. For the latter, Shough connected with Shaheed on a deep ball down the sideline — with Shaheed beating his matchup with a double move, while Shough bought time with a pump fake. Rattler also looked crisp, hitting Olave decisively over the middle.
In the session, Rattler worked with the first-time offense while Shough worked with the backups. Moore told reporters that the plan is to rotate them by the day and that each quarterback has gotten starting reps.
Here’s what else stood out about Thursday’s OTA (organized training activity) session, the first practice open to reporters this year.
### New offensive line
The biggest development was that the offensive line looked completely different, in part because of several position trainings. Trevor Penning, last year’s right tackle, got work at left guard. Taliese Fuaga, last year’s left tackle, took Penning’s old spot on the right side — moving the 2024 first-round back to his college position.
Kelvin Banks, this year’s first rounder, worked at left tackle after rotating several spots during rookie minicamp.
“Continuity is a really important aspect for those guys, but we’ll play with some different personnel packages, just moving those guys around,” Moore said. “Ultimately, in season, there will be things that come up and you have to have guys that have played other things and have had different exposures.”
To get a glimpse of the versatility of defensive coordinator Brandon Staley’s scheme, check out the way the Saints used rookie defensive lineman Vernon Broughton.
In their base look, the Saints used the third-rounder as a defensive end next to Cam Jordan. Then in nickel, when only four defensive linemen were on the field instead of five, Broughton kicked inside to defensive tackle. The Saints’ staff already had familiarity with Broughton upon drafting him as defensive line coach Bo Davis served as the lineman’s position coach at Texas for three seasons.
Cornerback Alontae Taylor was also a player asked to do several different things. After moving back outside last season following the Marshon Lattimore trade, Taylor took his first reps on the inside in 7-on-7.
Taylor was also used as a blitzer, getting a clean lane at Rattler — before pulling up given there’s no contact allowed. That’s an effective use of the cornerback’s skill set as Taylor had the fourth-most sacks(4) with the Saints last season.
And in base, Taylor was also used on the outside.
### Tight end shallow
Though the Saints mainly were healthy across the roster, New Orleans looked a little short at tight end. Moore said Taysom Hill and Foster Moreau are recovering from major knee injuries and won’t be available until at least training camp, while Dallin Holker is sidelined with a minor injury.
That creates an opening for the other tight ends beyond starter Juwan Johnson. The Saints drafted Moliki Matavao in the seventh round, while Jack Stoll, Michael Jacobson and Treyton Welch are also in the mix.
The workouts this time of the year are voluntary, but that said, the Saints had some notable absences. Hill, Tyrann Mathieu, Alvin Kamara, J.T. Gray, D’Marco Jackson, Demario Davis, Davon Godchaux and Chase Young were among the veterans absent Thursday.
Kamara, who typically misses these sessions and trains on his own until mandatory minicamp, tweeted that he was headed to Jordan.