New Orleans Saints: Trading for Auden Tate would be sneaky-good move

The New Orleans Saints have done what they can to add help at wide receiver but Auden Tate of the Cincinnati Bengals would give them a great option on their offense.

Tate, a former seventh-round pick out of Florida State, hasn’t been utilized much in Cincinnati’s offense. This isn’t shocking, as the Bengals have three WR1-caliber options at the position in Tyler Boyd, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins, so Tate’s slide down the depth chart wasn’t unexpected by any means.

The best season for Tate came in 2019 when the Bengals wideout hauled in 40 receptions for 575 yards and a touchdown but injuries prevented him from making a bigger impact in 2020. Even with that being the case, Tate deserves more playing time than what he’s getting in Cincinnati, as he was on the field for just 12% of the offensive snaps in the Bengals’ 27-24 overtime win over the Vikings.

Auden Tate is the perfect trade target for the New Orleans Saints.

While Tate isn’t the superstar that could put this offense over the top, he’d be an affordable option for the team in trade talks and he’s no slouch by any means. He wouldn’t be the WR1 for this team but he wouldn’t have to be, as Marquez Callaway and Deonte Harris can handle splitting that moniker until Michael Thomas comes back from his injury.

Tate is someone the Saints could lean on as their WR2/3 moving forward and considering the Bengals aren’t using him much, they’d likely be thrilled to listen to any trade offers for their former seventh-round pick.

This isn’t a name that fans would be expecting the Saints to trade for to fill their receiver depth but Auden Tate might just be the perfect addition to this offense moving forward.