The 2-0 start for the New Orleans Saints, where they scored 91 points, was just a tease as the team won just three games the rest of the season. A 5-12 record secured the 9th-overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and new head coach Kellen Moore needs weapons to put around veteran quarterback Derek Carr.
PFSN predicts the Saints will kickstart their offense by acquiring a 10-year veteran receiver with 64 career touchdowns.
Saints Predicted To Add Amari Cooper To Kellen Moore’s Offense
2024 was tough for New Orleans with Carr limited to 10 games after suffering an oblique injury, a fractured hand, and a concussion. He threw for 2,145 yards and 15 touchdowns in his 10 starts, but Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener weren’t able to keep the shit afloat when Carr went down.
Alvin Kamara was the team’s most effective weapon gaining 1,493 yards from scrimmage and eight total touchdowns, but the rest of the offense struggled. Tight end Juwan Johnson was the leading receiver with 548 yards, followed by Kamara (543) and fellow tight end Foster Moreau (413).
Receiver Chris Olave was fourth on the list with 400 yards in eight games, and 2023 standout Rashid Shaheed was sixth with 349 yards in just six games. Olave missed the rest of the season after suffering a concussion in Week 9, and Shaheed needed surgery to repair a Week 7 meniscus injury.
The receiver room needs an injection and PFSN’s Sterling Xie thinks the Saints should add 10-year veteran Amari Cooper in his recent bold predictions article.
Xie wrote, “Given their cap outlook, the New Orleans Saints could have a tough time adding anything beyond a one-year contract. Fortunately for the Saints (and unfortunately for the player), Amari Cooper is unlikely to sniff anything close to his last five-year contract of $100 million.”
New Orleans has seemingly been in “Cap Hell” forever and is currently $39.5 million over the limit since the cap was set at $279.2 million. A cheap, veteran option like Cooper makes sense.
Xie continued, “Cooper was limited to 20 catches for 297 yards in eight games after his trade to Buffalo, missing two games with a wrist injury (he also sat out the Week 18 contest with many of the Bills’ starters).
“Even when he did play, the Bills essentially rotated Cooper with Mack Hollins. Cooper averaged 28 snaps per game with Buffalo, the fifth-most among wide receivers on the team. He only received more than five targets in one of the eight games he played (which came in the 44-42 shootout vs. the Rams, which rookie Keon Coleman missed).
“New Saints coach Kellen Moore was Cooper’s offensive coordinator in Dallas from 2019-21, so there’s familiarity with the player. If Cooper can’t command more than one year of guarantees as he approaches his 31st birthday, the Saints would make for a logical landing spot in 2025.”
The four-time Pro-Bowler is searching for his fifth team and needs to rebound after a tough 2024. He totaled 547 yards, 44 receptions, and four touchdowns between Buffalo and the Cleveland Browns last season after having his best statistical season in 2023. That year he caught balls from four different starting quarterbacks and set a career high of 1,250 yards.
Cooper made the Pro Bowl Moore’s first year as offensive coordinator in Dallas and could have one more great season in him if a reunion happens. With free agency soon to begin, expect New Orleans to look into adding Cooper.