There weren’t many outside observers expecting the New Orleans Saints to be active in free agency last season, but they were able to add veterans at positions of need like Foster Moreau.
And it made a lot of sense to sign him: Moreau was a favorite target of Derek Carr’s when they were together on the Las Vegas Raiders, he added some much-needed experience to the tight end position, and he was popular among fans as a New Orleans local who played college football at LSU.
But that’s all behind us now. It’s time to keep this series going and evaluate his first season in black and gold, just as we did with running back Jamaal Williams. Here’s Moreau’s 2023 report card:
Free agent contract
Moreau signed a three-year deal last season valued at $12.2 million, with just over $8 million guaranteed — that’s coming from his $3.5 million signing bonus as well as the first two years of his base salary, which is the same structure the Saints used with Jamaal Williams. It puts his 2024 salary cap hit at about $4.3 million, which ranks 25th among all tight ends.
Releasing Moreau isn’t a realistic option. Cutting him before June 1 would cost an additional $1.8 million, raising his cap hit to $6.2 million. Waiting until after that date would save less than $1 million. The Saints could look into trading him, but the cap benefits are small and odds are he’ll see out the second year of his contract.
Snap counts
Moreau missed two games early in the season with an ankle injury and ended up playing just over half the Saints’ offensive snaps (549), which was his lowest total since 2020. He was consistently playing behind Juwan Johnson when everyone was healthy, and we shouldn’t overlook Taysom Hill’s presence — the do-it-all playmaker logged 210 snaps inline and in the slot, where Moreau also plays. Jimmy Graham played a surprising number of snaps through the first seven games (137) but was often asked to block (76 times), though he returned in a limited red-zone role in the back half.
Season stats
This was a step back for Moreau, which was odd to see after he found so much success working with Derek Carr on the Raiders in 2022. A year after he set new career-highs in receptions (33), receiving yards (420), and first down conversions (24) he regressed to just 21 catches for 193 yards, a touchdown, and 9 first downs.
Much of that can be chalked up to playing in a different offense and dealing with poor play calling from Pete Carmichael, so hopefully he returns to form in 2023 with Klint Kubiak calling plays. We can’t gloss over the mental strain of undergoing lymphoma treatment throughout the offseason, either.
Season recap, future outlook
Moreau wasn’t the Derek Carr-friendly target that fans envisioned when the Saints signed him, but again, we have to take a hard look at play calling to determine how much of that is his fault. He logged a career-high 342 snaps as a run blocker in 2024 while running just 160 routes; that’s less than half the total number of routes he ran in each of his last two years with the Raiders (361 and 357 in 2022 and 2021, respectively).
So it’s reasonable to think there’s more here than we saw. If the new offensive staff is willing to let Moreau make himself available on passing downs, maybe he’ll respond accordingly. It still wouldn’t hurt to add a tight end of the future to the mix — if they play their hand well in free agency, Georgia playmaker Brock Bowers could be a smart pick at No. 14 — with Moreau entering the final year of his contract and Juwan Johnson reaching free agency in 2025.
Now, we’d be remiss to mention Moreau’s dropped touchdown pass against the Jacksonville Jaguars back in Week 7, which would have set up Blake Grupe for an extra point try to force overtime. No one was more disappointed in that mistake than him — Moreau said afterwards that everyone he knew growing up in New Orleans was either at the game or watching from home. At the same time, we should acknowledge that this was Moreau’s only drop on the entire season. And he later made up for it by securing a Tampa Bay Buccaneers onside kick, sealing the win. He’s on the hands team for a good reason.
Report card grade
This is tough. You don’t want to be too hard on Moreau given all of the real adversity he overcame last season — receiving a life-threatening lymphoma diagnosis early in his first foray into free agency, and then an injury during the season. But we’ve got to look at the whole picture and evaluate his performance objectively.
And in a lot of ways, he was found lacking. The nosedive in receiving numbers is concerning given what the Saints invested in him. He was asked to block often (nearly as many reps as Juwan Johnson, Jimmy Graham, and Taysom Hill combined) but wasn’t a consistent force there. At the same time, he could have been worse. He did spring some big gains from Hill by sustaining his blocks out on the edge.
Moreau’s Saints debut was disappointing, but it wasn’t a disaster. And there’s some reasons for optimism with a new coaching staff having a new vision for him and his role on offense. We’re expecting more from Moreau in 2024.
Grade: C
