Copyright Baton Rouge Advocate
When the dust settled on the NFL’s trade deadline, the New Orleans Saints emerged with three more draft picks for their war chest. The cost was two starting players from their 1-8 football team — both of whom, in different ways, represented the areas the franchise has come up short in recent years. The Saints started things by sending receiver Rashid Shaheed to the Seattle Seahawks for a pair of Day 3 picks in next year’s draft — fourth- and fifth-rounders. Minutes before the 3 p.m buzzer, they completed a trade with the offensive lineman-needy Los Angeles Chargers, acquiring a 2027 sixth-rounder in exchange for offensive lineman Trevor Penning. "We feel like this can continue to build a young foundation that's going to carry this thing for a long time," coach Kellen Moore said to WWL-AM Tuesday. Both Shaheed and Penning had started each game they were available for the Saints this season. Both were also playing in the final year of their contracts with New Orleans. Of the two, Shaheed was the more difficult decision for an organization that is clearly in the midst of a rebuild. He was, at one time, an example of the things the Saints did right as a franchise. Shaheed joined the Saints as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Weber State — an undersized player from a small school who was coming off a season-ending injury in his final collegiate campaign. With the Saints, Shaheed blossomed into one of the more electrifying playmakers in the NFL. He turned his first career touch with the Saints — an end-around midway through his 2022 season — into a 44-yard touchdown. That was the first of his 16 scrimmage plays of 40-plus yards with the Saints, more than any NFL player except Miami receiver Tyreek Hill in that span. “His ability to separate downfield is second to none in this league,”Moore said to WWL-AM. “He’ll continue to do it (with Seattle).” He added value in the return game as well, earning Pro Bowl and First-team All-Pro honors as a return specialist with the Saints in 2023. Four of Shaheed’s 64 career punt returns gained 40 or more yards, and two went for touchdowns. But New Orleans could never figure out how to fully tap into Shaheed’s play-making potential. He topped out at 719 receiving yards in 2023. He looked well on his way to shattering that last season, accumulating at least 70 yards in four of his first five games under offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak — whom Shaheed reunited with in Seattle after the trade — but a knee injury cut his season short after six games. This season as the Saints’ No. 2 wide receiver, Shaheed has put up respectable numbers — 44 catches for 499 yards and two touchdowns — but his 11.3 yards per catch was more than five yards below his career average coming into the season. New Orleans may have been bracing for his departure earlier this offseason, however. The Saints traded a fourth-round pick shortly before the start of the season for Devaughn Vele, and they also acquired Trey Palmer via waivers and acquired former Patriots receiver Ja'Lynn Polk in a trade. Of those three, only Vele has played this season — and sparingly. Despite the relative premium of the price they paid to acquire him, Vele has only played 40% or more of the Saints offensive snaps once this season, never topping two catches or 13 yards in a given game. Palmer has yet to appear in a Saints uniform and is on injured reserve. Polk was always a play for 2026, as he had shoulder surgery prior to the 2025 season. In Shaheed, the Saints could never capitalize on the potential they unearthed. Penning is the flip-side of the Saints’ organizational failings: A premium draft pick spent on a player who did not pan out. Now in his fourth season, Penning was on his third position with the Saints, having operated as the team's starting left guard for most of the season. It was not remotely what the Saints envisioned when they drafted him. The Saints selected Penning in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft with hopes that he would become a franchise left tackle, but for various reasons that did not happen. Penning suffered a turf toe injury that derailed nearly his entire rookie season. He made one start in 2022, the season finale, and suffered a Lisfranc injury that forced him to spend much of the following offseason in rehabilitation. New Orleans trotted Penning back out as their starting left tackle in 2023, but he struggled mightily in the role and was banished to the bench before the season reached its midway point. He appeared to find some stability last season after switching to right tackle after New Orleans drafted Taliese Fuaga, then embraced a move to offensive guard this offseason after the Saints spent another first-round pick on Kelvin Banks Jr. While the Saints maintained throughout they've been pleased with Penning's development as a guard, his play still left plenty to be desired. Penning once again dealt with a turf toe injury during training camp, this one sidelining him for the first three games of the season. Upon his return, Penning's most notable contribution to the offense came in the form of penalties, with three holding penalties and one false start in his six games. As with receiver, New Orleans made several moves prior to the start of the season to address its offensive line depth, acquiring Luke Fortner and Asim Richards in August trades. It also has veteran offensive lineman Dillon Radunz, who started the first two games in Penning’s place, ready to go as needed. New Orleans drafted five players in the first round from 2018 to 2022. Three of that group — Penning and defensive ends Marcus Davenport and Payton Turner — did not earn second contracts with the Saints, and a fourth, Chris Olave, is still to be determined. "There's a bittersweet component to this; we understand the business side of this," Moore said to WWL-AM. "There's an opportunity from our team's standpoint. We feel like there's some value in this moving forward as far as the assets you collect."
