The New Orleans Saints got a big boost from their defense, offensive line, running backs, and a career year from Ted Ginn Jr. However, besides the career year from an aging Ginn and a studly performance out of Michael Thomas, there wasn't much for Drew Brees to throw to in the form of a wide receiver or tight end.

There's no doubt that the tight end position needs to be upgraded and I'll touch on that later this week but for today I wanted to discuss with you how the team might improve its wide receiving corps.

On Tuesday, the biggest free agent wide receiver was franchise tagged in Miami Dolphins wide receiver, Jarvis Landry. I really thought he would have been the perfect fit in the Sean Payton-Drew Brees offense and of course his Alma-Mater is LSU...

Never the less, lets not dwell on what coulda, shoulda, woulda been. Lets look ahead at what still can be for the New Orleans Saints in terms of a brand new target for this offense.

FREE AGENTS

  1. Allen Robinson (JAX-24): Robinson burst onto the NFL scene in 2015 with a 1,400 yard season in which he hauled in 14 touchdowns. There are two areas of concern for the young wide-out. One, he's coming off a torn ACL and two, he was not good against press coverage in 2016.
  2. Sammy Watkins (LAR-24): Much like Robinson, Watkins splashed in his second year in the pros in 2015 with over 1,000 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. However, over the past few seasons he's dealt with some injuries and has had a problem with drops. He's still young and has talent and in the right offense he might be able to flourish.
  3. Marqise Lee (JAX-26): Lee was drafted back in 2014 as the 39th overall pick by the Jags but since then he hasn't flashed on the field like they were hoping he would. He's never broken 1,000 yards in a season or had more than three touchdowns. The saving grace here is, that he's been in kind of an inept offense with Blake Bortles at the helm and he's very good at underneath routes and potentially on third-downs.

Other receivers available: John Brown (ARI-27), Dontrelle Inman (CHI-29), Eric Decker (TEN-31), Paul Richardson (SEA-25), Danny Amendola (NE-32), Jordan Matthews (BUF-25), Ryan Grant (WSH-27).

Who would you like to see in a Saints uniform next year?

Here's another option to consider, drafting a wide-out in the upcoming draft. In the latest mock draft by Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, he's got the Saints taking WR out of Texas A&M, Christian Kirk.

Kirk seems to have a deadly combination of speed, hands, and route running ability. Check out his highlight film:

Another great thing about Kirk is that he can also add something to special teams in terms of a kick/punt returner, something the Saints desperately lacked this past season.

 

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