The Denver Broncos should trade for Juwan Johnson or Foster Moreau, tight ends with the New Orleans Saints.
This suggestion comes on the heels of Dennis Allen’s firing on early Monday morning. The Saints fell to 2-7 on the season after losing to the Panthers on Sunday. They were also crushed by the Broncos 33-10 a few weeks ago, and have lost seven straight games.
Denver was trounced themselves this Sunday, losing 41-10 to the Baltimore Ravens. But at 5-4, the Broncos are still in the playoff hunt and should be buyers at the NFL trade deadline, Tuesday.
Broncos should trade for Juwan Johnson and bolster their tight ends
The Saints are officially cooked. They started 2-0 and were the delight of the early NFL season, but after losing seven straight games have less than 1% chance of making the playoffs.
New Orleans should be sellers, with the NFL trade deadline approaching on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 2 p.m. MT. Last week Allen said the Saints wouldn’t be sellers, but now he’s gone.
Unlike New Orleans, Denver is still in the playoff picture with a 47% chance of making the postseason.
If New Orleans does start to trade away some of their talent, the Broncos should be calling about multiple tight ends.
Specifically, the Broncos should trade for Juwan Johnson, a veteran tight end who enjoyed his best season in 2022.
Denver’s hurting for more production in the passing game, both at wide receiver and tight end. If they want to go all-in this season, they could go after a receiver like Darius Slayton. Or, maybe Johnson or Foster Moreau make more sense.
Johnson has put up some rather pedestrian numbers this year with New Orleans. He has 20 receptions for 225 yards and one touchdown. But it should be noted that he’s played with multiple quarterbacks. First it was Derek Carr, but then rookie Spencer Rattler came in with less than great results.
So, there’s hope Johnson could add a sure-handed target in the middle of the field for Bo Nix, and that Sean Payton could utilize him better. The 6’4” tight end does have 10 catches for first downs this year, a part of the game where Denver’s struggled.
They are currently 27th on 3rd downs, converting only 33.6% of their attempts.
Foster Moreau is a second possible trade target
Foster Moreau is another option on the Saints at tight end.
Moreau, like Johnson, is a veteran and has six years of experience. His best season also came in 2022, with the Las Vegas Raiders, when he had 33 receptions for 420 yards and two touchdowns.
Moreau’s career high for touchdowns came his rookie season, in 2019, when he scored five times. But with three touchdowns this season, he’s on track to set a new career best.
Moreau only has 12 receptions for 167 yards this season, but his three touchdowns are more than all Broncos tight ends combined this year. And they would put him in the lead on the Broncos for all receivers.
Both Johnson and Moreau are not only trade targets because of Allen’s firing, but each have relatively small cap hits the Broncos could absorb. It would be $3.5M for Johnson and $4.4M for Moreau, although the Saints may be willing to eat some of that, too, since we’re at midseason. Plus, Johnson is a free agent next year, so New Orleans may be more willing to part with him.
But, will the Broncos actually trade for Juwan Johnson, Moreau, or anyone else?
“Honestly, the focus is on the guys in this building right here,” Sean Payton said on Monday morning. “Superman’s not walking in.”
We currently have 27 hours until the trade deadline at the time of this publishing. Stay tuned, as Denver could still make a move.