It's no secret the role that Foster Moreau will step into with the Saints when he's ready, but can he be better in it than the last guy?
That's the question WWL's Bobby Hebert is asking after the Saints agreed to a three-year deal with the former Raiders, LSU and Jesuit standout. Can he be more productive than Adam Trautman?
“He’s taking Trautman’s place, and Adam Trautman, to me, was a disappointment," Hebert said this week on SportsTalk when discussing the signing with Mike Detillier.
"And what I mean by that, look at his production. He might say, well they didn’t throw me the ball enough, but then when you have a good game, then he’d be hurt or something.”
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Over his three seasons with the Saints, Trautman logged 60 catches for 641 yards and 4 TDs. He was traded to the Broncos, along with his former coach Sean Payton, in exchange for a 6th round selection used on Wake Forest WR A.T. Perry. The Saints opted not to bolster the position in a TE-heavy draft class, but did add Central Michigan's Joel Wilson as a UDFA.
Moreau's name was one that had been on the Saints' mind throughout the offseason. The New Orleans native was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma during a physical with Saints team doctors and he stepped away from the NFL to battle the disease. He has since been medically cleared, according to reports, and is hopeful to play in the 2023 season. In Moreau's four seasons with the Raiders, catching passed from Derek Carr, he logged 91 catches for 1,107 yards and 12 TDs while excelling as a blocker.
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"So far it seems to be that Foster is responding well and the news is that he could come back for early in the season," Detillier said. "Now, I think they’ll be very cautious with him from a doctor’s standpoint and working with him.”
And what would a successful season be for Moreau in this offense? That depends. A 100-catch season for the entire TE room would be a victory, Detillier says. However you get there split between Juwan Johnson -- who was signed to a 2-year, $12 million extension this offseason -- works just fine. That could be 60-40, 65-35, whatever, the key part is that the TE position is producing.
“You’ve hit gold if you can get to 100 catches,” Detillier said.
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