Saints All-Pro WR to miss time, return this season in doubt

Without Chris Olave, the Saints will also be without breakthrough wideout Rashid Shaheed for their Thursday night Broncos matchup. Shaheed will undergo knee surgery, which will rule him out for the foreseeable future.

The downfield threat has a chance to return this season, but that is not assured. The outcome of Shaheed’s meniscus surgery will determine if he misses a few weeks or the rest of the year, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. Losing Shaheed would be a harsh blow to a New Orleans offense that has already played without multiple offensive linemen for stretches this season. Dealing with an oblique tear, Derek Carr will also miss a second game.

Dennis Allen subsequently announced that Shaheed will undergo an exploratory procedure to determine if the third-year wideout will need a meniscus trim or a full repair, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport adds. A full repair would knock the recently extended receiver out for the season.

Averaging 17.5 yards per catch, Shaheed has continued his transition from UDFA to starter. Olave’s top sidekick has scored three long-range TDs and exited Week 6 with 20 receptions for 349 yards. Shaheed, last season’s first-team All-Pro punt returner, also returned a punt for a score for a second straight season. While Olave is the Saints’ top receiver investment, Shaheed currently leads the team in yardage.

The Saints did well to identify Shaheed out of Division I-FCS Montana State, bringing him in as part of their 2022 UDFA class. With Michael Thomas rarely available over the previous two seasons — and when he was, the former All-Pro displayed an injury-driven decline that has him out of the league — Shaheed stepped in to give the team an intriguing WR2 option. Last season, Shaheed totaled 719 yards and five TD receptions in 15 games. He then entered this year as a clear-cut New Orleans starter.

Shaheed, 26, signed an ERFA tender this offseason but later inked a one-year bump that calls for a $4.2M base salary in 2025. This transaction prevented the Saints from needing to apply for a second-round RFA tender for the Weber State alum next year. But the team risks losing a blossoming player, continuing a tough stretch following an explosive 2-0 start.

The Saints will again deploy Spencer Rattler as their starting QB, but he will not have any reliable wideouts to target. The team cut 2023 draftee A.T. Perry, who is now on Denver’s practice squad. Beyond Shaheed and Olave, rookie Bub Means leads Saints WRs with five receptions for 45 yards.