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NOLA Saints: Tre’Quan Smith is on the chopping block in 2021

By Leigh Oleszczak

NEW ORLEANS, LA - SEPTEMBER 9: Tre'Quan Smith #10 of the New Orleans Saints at the line of scrimmage during a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Mercedes-Benz Superdome on September 9, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Buccaneers defeated the Saints 48-40. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - SEPTEMBER 9: Tre'Quan Smith #10 of the New Orleans Saints at the line of scrimmage during a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Mercedes-Benz Superdome on September 9, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Buccaneers defeated the Saints 48-40. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
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The New Orleans Saints don’t have much depth behind Michael Thomas at wide receiver and that’s unfortunate because the team had high hopes for Tre’Quan Smith. The Saints spent a third-round pick on Smith in the 2018 NFL Draft and he’s been disappointing, to say the least.

As a result, Smith could find his head on the chopping block if he continues to disappoint and this is a sentiment that Patrik Walker of CBS Sports shared. Walker wrote:

"The stage is set for the former third-round pick to finally step up and be the complementary piece to All-Pro wideout Michael Thomas, and the fact Smith is entering a contract year only adds that much more pressure on him to do so. If he doesn’t impress quickly, he could find himself an afterthought of Sean Payton, and then wholly expendable as a potential trade piece — or worse."

Smith is in the final year of his rookie deal and it’s now or never for the former UCF product. If he’s going to break out, it needs to be this year, especially if he wants to land a nice deal in free agency next offseason. Walker mentioned all of those topics in his write-up but noted that if Smith doesn’t show any signs of improvement, then he could be out of the Big Easy pretty quickly.

This is a big year for NOLA Saints receiver Tre’Quan Smith.

The Saints have struggled to find a capable WR2 to put behind Thomas, which is unfortunate. Smith was a nice player during his UCF days and the Saints were hoping he’d replicate that kind of production when he got to New Orleans but that hasn’t been the case. His leash is definitely short as he enters the fourth and final year of his rookie deal.

The good news for Smith is that the Saints are desperate for production at receiver behind Thomas so if Smith shows up and has a big year, he’ll probably get to stay on the team assuming NOLA is competitive.

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It’ll be interesting to see how the 2021 season goes for Smith. He’s been a bit of a disappointment to this point and this is his chance to break out in a big way. Hopefully, he can make it happen because there’s no better time for him to do so than right now.

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