Per Fox Sports' Jordan Schultz, the New Orleans Saints are working out wide receiver Brenden Rice. If your eyes drift to the last name, we can't blame you. Rice is the son of the GOAT, Jerry Rice. Brenden spent his rookie season and the 2025 preseason the Los Angeles Chargers. After being waived, he worked out for the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Saints are remaining vigilant when it comes to the wide receiver room. After only adding Brandin Cooks to the room this offseason, the Saints have quickly increased their aggressiveness around the position. The team traded for Devaughn Vele days before the final preseason game and scooped up Trey Palmer from waivers after roster cuts.
If the Saints sign Rice, it will be to the practice squad. As mentioned, the Saints just recently picked up two wide receivers in the last couple of weeks. Vele and Palmer were added to the active roster, but Rice pushing Mason Tipton off the roster feels far fetched.
Brenden Rice brings more size to the Saints wide receivers
If you go back to the the beginning of training camp, Saints clearly had a type at wide receiver. Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed and Cooks were all characterized by their speed, and their lack of size dominated conversations this offseason.
New Orleans has begun to rectify that with the addition of Vele to the receiving corps. If Rice joins the practice squad, that would give the Saints a big-bodied wide receiver they could look to develop over the course of the season without expectations.
When you look towards the future, the Saints need to be prepared to have to bolster the receiving corps yet again next year. Cooks is aging, and retirement wouldn't be surprising. Shaheed is entering a contract year. Tipton is an undrafted free agent who is still has to prove himself, and Palmer was a waiver wire addition.
The only receivers who are sure bets to be on the 2026 roster are Olave and Vele. When looking at it through that lens, grabbing a guy to develop makes sense. We'll see if that guy is Rice.