The New Orleans Saints have done some extensive work in completely remaking their skill position groups over the last 3 seasons. Especially their WR group. In 2021, their top 5 WRs were as follows: Marquez Callaway, TreQuan Smith, Deonte Harty, Kenny Stills, and LilJordan Humphrey/ Kevin White. The look of this group disgusted many Saints fans, and were screaming for Sean to make some changes. To no avail, as his final year coaching the team is, in large part, remembered by him saying “we like the guys we have in this room” essentially.
In 2022, it consisted of Michael Thomas, Chris Olave, Jarvis Landry, Marquez Callaway, and TreQuan Smith. While it is true that things didn’t pan out well with four out of these five receivers, minus Olave, the talent level is still leaps and bounds over what they had the season before. And they didn’t stop there, as Saints head coach Dennis Allen continued to transform the look of his receiving core. Starting by letting go of Callaway and Harty – both of whom were Sean Payton’s guys. They also found themselves with a gem in Rashid Shaheed, a former UDFA WR out of Weber State. Additionally, they traded up in Day 3 of this year’s NFL Draft to select WR A.T Perry out of Wake Forest and made some free agent moves by signing receivers James Washington and Bryan Edwards.
For all the concerns about Dennis Allen being able to put it all together on the field, one thing is certain: the guy knows how to find talent and isn’t settling for anything less than what he feels the team needs. Now, as June 1st quickly approaches, the biggest question surrounding Allen and the Saints now is will they pull the trigger and trade for Las Vegas Raiders slot receiver Hunter Renfrow? Derek’s brother, Darren Carr, appears to be on board with the idea. He recently posted a tweet captioned “Hunter Renfrow appreciation tweet:”
Lucas Loffredo of Canal Street Chronicles shared his insights on the recent linking of the two parties:
“Trading Hunter Renfrow after June 1st saves the Raiders $11.29 million. The Saints have the room to add Renfrow right now but would likely require some maneuvering of the cap. The Saints would likely ask the Raiders to take on a portion of Renfrow’s salary in exchange for a higher draft selection, but they don’t possess one that would make sense. The two fifth round picks are probably the most reasonable compensation factoring in everything.”
Renfrow had his best statistical season of his career playing for Derek Carr in 2021, prior to suffering setbacks via injuries in 2022. His high-end play as a slot receiver would very likely take their passing game to the next level. Loffredo mentioned that and then some further down his article:
“If you take a look at the depth chart now, the Saints do not possess a true slot receiver in their offense. Yes, we see guys move around and play the slot here and there but not a guy who is tailored for that spot. Renfrow brings exactly that. He is a high-volume target, who is very crafty and can work the short and intermediate better than most. His ability to take advantage of his matchups with incredible short-area quickness and deceptive route running is something that the Saints could use out of the slot.”
The next few days will be very interesting, to say the least.
Hunter Renfrow appreciation tweet: pic.twitter.com/MNJpoFyCdi
— Darren Carr (@DCarr75) May 28, 2023