The Saints have a new tight end in Foster Moreau, and he's spent the offseason battling a more intimidating opponent than any his new team will face this season.
But any ongoing treatments stemming from the cancer diagnosis discovered during his initial Saints physical in March are not expected to slow down the New Orleans native, who agreed to a 3-year, $12 million contract this week.
"I think he’s doing outstanding," head coach Dennis Allen said on the Rich Eisen show. "And the type of treatment he’s receiving, we don’t anticipate that there's are going to be really any limitations at all in terms of his ability to participate and perform, and his ability to recover. And I think that’s probably the most important thing.”
It's a similar outlook that was echoed by Dr. Ashish Udharain, an oncologist at Thibodaux Regional Cancer Institute, who spoke to Mike Detillier and Bobby Hebert on SportsTalk this week.
Listen to the full interview with Dr. Ashish Udharain in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
He notes that lymphoma is one of the more common forms of cancer among people in their 20s, which also peaks again for people in their 60s. But the recovery rate of the disease in the early stages is as high as 98% for some with the current treatments available.
He pointed to current NFL running back James Conner, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma during the 2015 season at Pittsburgh, was treated and was back playing for the season-opener in 2016.
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“I think the recovery aspect of it, usually I would say within a month or two after the entire treatment is done, the average folks recover very well from the treatment, and the disease is gone and their side effects that they were having from the cancer goes away … and then two months after the treatment is done, most of the acute side effects that happen from the treatment are pretty much resolved, barring any complications certainly during the treatment process," Dr. Udharain said. "So I would say from a recovery standpoint for a professional athlete, I think the recovery period is even faster. So I think the Saints can certainly expect a healthy Foster Moreau coming into training camp this year."
It's unclear exactly when his availability might allow Moreau to get on the field during the offseason program, which includes three sets of OTAs and a minicamp in May. Training camp typically kicks off in late July.
Moreau, a former Jesuit and LSU standout, will join a tight end room that currently includes Juwan Johnson, Taysom Hill, Miller Forristall, Lucas Krull and UDFA Joel Wilson, with the New Orleans native likely to fill a blocking role. He also has significant familiarity with Derek Carr, having spent all four NFL seasons with the Raiders since he was drafted in the 4th round of 2019.
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