1 offseason move each NFL team must make

New Orleans Saints’ offseason move – Draft WR Kayshon Boutte at No. 30

Things are getting ugly in New Orleans, where years of kicking the salary cap can down the road has left them in cap hell with a mediocre roster. We can debate whether the idea of landing Derek Carr will make much of a difference at another time but one thing that is abundantly clear is that the Saints need help at wide receiver.

Michael Thomas hasn’t been the same player since suffering an ankle injury at the end of 2020 while Marquez Callaway’s flashes of talent could lead to an overpay in a weak receiver free agent class that New Orleans can’t match. The process behind landing Chris Olave last year, a move that cost the Saints their first-round pick (which landed at No. 10 overall), was flawed but the results were good as Olave was a highly productive player as a rookie.

New Orleans now has the 30th pick in the draft after acquiring it from the Denver Broncos in exchange for the rights to Sean Payton so they should use it to add another talented young receiver in LSU’s Kayshon Boutte. This pick would be popular with the fan base and the local product has the type of explosive playmaking ability that would make Boutte a good complement to the steady presence of Olave.

The smart long-term play for the Saints would be to take as much of their salary cap medicine now and accumulate young talent to make themselves a destination for a veteran quarterback in the future. Drafting Boutte would be another important step in that process.