 Da Boot Sports 4/28/2026 Article Courtesy of Crescent City Sports By: Lee East METAIRIE – The New Orleans Saints completed the NFL Draft by selecting five players and adding a sixth through a trade Saturday. They continued an off-season commitment to stockpiling offensive weapons while sprinkling in defensive assets. They used the final four rounds to grab Auburn guard Jeremiah Wright, North Dakota State wide receiver Bryce Lance, Ohio State safety Lorenzo Styles Jr., LSU wide receiver/return specialist Barion Brown and Iowa defensive back TJ Hall and swing a trade that brought aboard veteran defensive end Tyree Wilson. Adding those players to No. 1 pick Jordyn Tyson (No. 8 overall) and second-round choices Christen Miller (No. 42) and Oscar Delp (No. 73), New Orleans came away with three wide receivers, a tight end, a guard, two defensive linemen and two defensive backs. “We have a little something for everyone,” executive vice president/general manager Mickey Loomis said, “offense, defense and special teams.” Loomis said the Saints didn’t make any phone calls about trading up in the first round, though they did explore moving up in the second and third rounds but nothing came to fruition. “We liked a lot of guys (available at No. 8),” Loomis said. They settled on Tyson. “He made a lot of catches for first downs and touchdowns, and he’s made a lot of tough catches,” Loomis said. “He’s the whole package, and if you’re a top 10 pick you should be the whole package.” Each of the draft choices spent at least four years in college, two spent five years and one spent six. Four of them already have their college degrees, including one who has a Masters (Lance). Three of them are legacies of some sort. Tyson’s brother Jaylon plays for the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers, Styles’ brother Sonny was the No. 1 pick of the Washington Commanders and the two draft choices are sons of former Super Bowl champion Sonny Styles Sr. and Lance is the younger brother of Los Angeles Chargers quarterback and former No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance. The Saints used their fourth round pick (No. 132 overall) to grab Wright (6-foot-5, 348 pounds), who stayed six years in college and played in 53 games and started 24 consecutive games, including all 12 at right guard last season. Loomis called him “a big people mover.” Wright was a reserve defensive tackle before moving to offensive line. He said he “learned a lot of patience” during his career, expending “a lot of blood, seats and tears” during the “ups and downs” of his transition from defensive line to offensive line. “It paid off,” he said as his voice cracked with emotion. “I’m just grateful and blessed to be here.” The Saints ostensibly completed their starting offensive line when they signed former Buffalo Bills guard David Edwards in free agency to start on the left side, but Wright could compete for playing time behind Edwards or perhaps push incumbent Cesar Ruiz for the starting position on the right side. Wright, who also lettered in baseball, played for a high-school team nicknamed the Saints (Selma Alabama) just as Miller’s team in Cedar Grove, Georgia was nicknamed the Saints. Lance spent five years in college and made several FCS All-America first teams as a senior last season with 51 catches, 1,079 yards and eight touchdowns. He was the first receiver in Bison history with multiple 1,000-yard seasons. He said he has “elite ball skills.” “(The pass) is mine or it’s nobody’s,” Lance added. Lance graduated in December 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and earned a Masters degree in business administration in December 2025. The Saints traded the first of their two fifth-round picks (No. 150 overall) to the Los Vegas Raiders for a seventh-round pick (No. 219) and defensive end Tyree Wilson, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2023 draft. Wilson, 6-foot-5, 263 pounds, who played at Texas Tech, hasn’t played close to expectations in three seasons. He has started just seven of the 50 games in which he has played and has made 91 total tackles (57 solo), 12 sacks, 16 tackles for loss, one pass breakup, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. Last season he played in all 17 games, including three starts, and had career-highs in tackles (35), solo stops (25), tackles for loss (eight) and forced fumbles (two) in addition to making four sacks. Loomis said defensive coordinator Brandon Staley has “a couple of different ideas of how to use him,” adding that the success that defensive end Chase Young had in reviving his career under Staley last season suggested to them that Wilson might also enjoy success. “We’ve been talking to the Raiders about him for some time; it wasn’t just today,” Loomis said. “We liked him when he was coming out of college and we like him as a pro.” Wilson, who turns 26 next month, will receive a guaranteed salary of $4.1 million next season and the Saints have until May 1 to exercise a fifth year option on him for $14.4 million, but Loomis said he “will be a free agent after this season in all likelihood.” “We have a one-year trial,” Loomis said, “and we’ll see where it goes.” His arrival gives New Orleans insurance at defensive end in case free agent Cam Jordan, the franchise’s career sack leader, does not re-sign. New Orleans kept its second fifth-round pick (No. 172 overall) to grab Styles (6-1, 195) from Ohio State to bolster a secondary that lost starting nickelback Alontae Taylor in free agency. Styles played wide receiver for two seasons at Notre Dame before transferring to Ohio State and switching to safety. “I knew how I liked to attack DBs (as a wide receiver),” Styles said. “I think that helped me.” The Saints used their pick in the sixth round (No. 190) to snag wide receiver/kick returner Brown, who played his senior season at LSU after playing three seasons at Kentucky. He holds an SEC record with six kickoff returns for touchdowns, all of which covered at least 99 yards. He led the Tigers in receptions (53) and receiving yards (532) last season. Brown could barely contain his enthusiasm with being selected by the Saints as he participated in a video conference with reporters. “I can’t wait to get down there and finish my work,” he said. “I’m ready to work. Let’s do it.” The selections of Tyson, Lance, Styles and Brown greatly enhances the team’s speed, which Loomis said was a goal entering the draft. “We’d have a heck of relay team,” Loomis said. In the seventh-round the pick acquired in the trade with the Raiders brought Hall, who made 11 of his 18 career starts as a senior last season. In high school he played defensive back, wide receiver, quarterback and returned kicks and punts as well as lettering in basketball for two seasons. He called his selection by the Saints “a good early birthday gift” because he turns 22 on Sunday. Hall said he prides himself on his “physicality” and believes he can “fit anywhere” in the secondary. Loomis said he went into the draft thinking the Saints might address Taylor’s replacement in “the early part” of the draft, but the value wasn’t right. Once the draft ended the Saints focused on signing undrafted free agents. Loomis said the team would sign about 10 players, which would be fewer than normal. The nine players acquired during the draft (including Wilson), matching the number of draft picks last season which equaled the most since 1996. The next step will be for the Saints to evaluate the evolving roster and narrow their focus for putting the finishes touches on veteran free-agent signings leading up to the start of training camp in July. *John 14:6 - "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior) *John 3;16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
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