Saints should swipe Travis Fulgham from Eagles practice squad

Everyone knew the New Orleans Saints would end up here at some point in 2021: staring at their underachieving wide receiver room and thinking, “We need help. Badly.”

These contemplations started with Michael Thomas’ surgery news and continued as Marquez Callaway and others failed to impress through three weeks of the season.

Callaway just scored his first career touchdown, Kenny Stills recently rejoined the team, and Deonte Harris is a superhuman force on special teams, but no wideout has proved his consistency, much less earned the No. 1 wide receiver position.

Nothing is going well for the Saints’ wide receivers right now, so New Orleans could afford to take a flyer on some outside talent: Philadelphia Eagles’ WR Travis Fulgham.

Fulgham was waived and placed on the Eagles practice squad at the end of August, but demoting your team leader in receiving yards last year just doesn’t seem logical to us.

One team’s mistake is another’s gain, and New Orleans should act fast.

Philadelphia is currently rebuilding around Jalen Hurts and young, talented wide receivers, but for some reason, the young and talented Fulgham wasn’t included in head coach Nick Sirianni’s plans.

In 2020, Fulgham posted 38 catches for 539 receiving yards and four touchdowns in 13 games, averaging over 14 yards per catch.

New Orleans Saints could upgrade WR room with Eagles’ Travis Fulgham

Those numbers don’t exactly scream “Michael Thomas’ replacement,” but consider the fact that Fulgham played with Carson Wentz last year. Wentz, who threw nearly as many interceptions as touchdowns and was sacked 50 times.

Fulgham’s numbers look a bit better, don’t they?

But to return to the pitiful Wentz point: the Saints bringing on Fulgham just makes sense. New Orleans are unfortunately dealing with a Wentz-like quarterback themselves in the ever-erratic Jameis Winston. We all saw his desperation heave against the Pats on Sunday. We all also squirmed in our seats.

If anything, Fulgham can tell Winston what not to do and make him a better quarterback for it. Fulgham only has two years of pro experience, but he’s learned how to make the most of his opportunities in the NFL.

After his 2020 hell ride (not hell of a ride, hell ride) with Wentz in Philly, Fulgham showed how productive he can be with an inconsistent quarterback. He’d easily slide in to at least WR3 and could even battle Ty Montgomery and Lil’Jordan Humphrey for their spots on the depth chart.

In our excitement at bringing on a new capable WR, we may have overlooked some of Fulgham’s flaws, which are as follows: Fulgham struggled to catch the ball in the second half of 2020 and eventually lost his starting spot.

Fulgham averaged 52 snaps in his first seven games but averaged just 25 the rest of the year, and somewhere along the line then-head coach Doug Pederson made thinly veiled comments about Fulgham’s work ethic.

His recent history of drops continued this preseason, when his only catch was an 18-yarder that he ultimately fumbled out of the end zone.

Fulgham’s rise to becoming a big-play starter started to trend downward to an Icarus-level fall in 2020, but the Saints could save him from the Eagles’ practice squad limbo and give him a deserved chance.

It’s not like New Orleans are doing that well in the wide receiver department, anyway. In 2021, Fulgham, Jameis Winston, and the Saints’ passing offense may all share the same trait: desperation.