METAIRIE, La. (AP) — Perhaps in coming years, the Saints will reminisce about three pillars of a passing game that arrived in New Orleans over the span of two NFL drafts.
Decisions to bring in a highly rated receiver and tight end with two of their first three draft choices this week could be a considerable boon to the development of second-year Saints quarterback Tyler Shough, who applauded both picks in social media posts.
Shough's new receiver, Jordyn Tyson of Arizona State, was the second receiver drafted overall when the Saints took him with the eighth pick of the first round. Oscar Delp, who played at Georgia, was selected 73rd overall.
Tyson, Delp and Shough, a 2025 second-rounder, comprise the highest-drafted offensive skill players since coach Kellen Moore — who designs and calls the offense — arrived in New Orleans in February 2025, shortly after winning a Super Bowl as a coordinator with Philadelphia.
“Certainly, we're trying to build a group that hopefully has some continuity and works together for a number of years,” Moore said. “There's a lot of time that needs to be invested in this, but we've got the right kind of guys to work together on that.”
The 6-foot-2 Tyson, whose brother, Jaylon, plays in the NBA for the Cleveland Cavaliers, was prolific — when healthy — at Arizona State. In 33 games across four seasons — the first with Colorado — he caught 158 passes for 2,282 yards and 22 touchdowns.
Last season, the Saints completed 33 passes of 20 or more yards, which ranked second to last in the NFL, better than only the New York Jets. So, New Orleans had a glaring need for a player such as Tyson, who should complement four-year veteran receiver Chris Olave.
“It’s like a match made in heaven,” Tyson said. “And we're the Saints.”
Moore mentioned watching highlights of Tyson “making plays downfield,” adding, "The thing that I was really excited about, when we had a chance to evaluate, was the biggest games, he came up in those big-time moments.”
Delp did not have gaudy receiving stats at Georgia, but Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart and his offensive staff clearly trusted the tight end, playing him in 55 games over four seasons.
The 6-foot-5, 245-pound Delp caught 70 passes for 854 yards and nine TDs during his college career, but Moore said the quality of Delp’s touches in Georgia’s offense stood out.
“We recognize the athleticism that he provides. He does a great job out in space. He’s got some juice and some speed — vertical speed. He's a very willing, physical run player. That's an important aspect."
Moore added that Delp would be prepared to do some “dirty work” as a blocker on the perimeter — and Delp agreed.
“The most important thing you can do as a tight end is to be able to block,” Delp said. “I love being able to dominate another man, and in a successful offense, you have to have a tight end that can dominate the perimeter.”
The Saints didn't necessarily need a tight end. Veterans Juwan Johnson and Noah Fant — the latter acquired this offseason in free agency — are already on the roster. But Moore saw in Delp a good fit for his offense.
“For him to still be available for us in the third round was a nice luxury for us,” Moore said. “People know the way this league trending with the ability to play in multiple tight end sets and that’s a valuable asset.”
During the draft’s final rounds, the Saints traded for edge rusher Tyree Wilson, who has yet to fulfill the promise the Raiders thought he had when they drafted him seventh overall in 2023.
Wilson has just 12 sacks in three seasons, but the Saints only had to give up a fifth-round pick to get him and now will see if their staff and locker room can help him realize more of his potential.
The Saints' brass had to have a bit of faith in both Tyson's maturity and their own training staff in order to draft the star receiver.
Tyson had several injuries in college, including torn knee ligaments, a broken collarbone, and injuries to both hamstrings and hips.
The 21-year-old receiver insisted that he has learned from every injury setback and has a workout and nutrition plan aimed at maximizing his availability.
Moore sounded convinced.
“This guy’s a really tough football player,” Moore said. “He’s battled some things, and I think all that’s positive. He worked out through this whole process, kind of recovered and he’s in a great place.”
Having bolstered their defensive line with Georgia tackle Christen Miller in Friday’s second round, the Saints started the draft’s final day by taking two more offensive players in the fourth round: Auburn guard Jeremiah Wright and North Dakota receiver Bryce Lance. New Orleans rounded out its 2026 draft class with Ohio State safety Lorenzo Styles Jr. in the fifth round; LSU receiver Barion Brown in the sixth round and Iowa cornerback TJ Hall in the seventh round.
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Arizona State wide receiver Jordyn Tyson cries while standing with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after being chosen by the New Orleans Saints with the eighth overall pick during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
President Donald Trump and other top leaders of the United States were evacuated from an annual dinner of White House correspondents on Saturday night after an unspecified threat. There did not immediately appear to be any injuries.
The Secret Service and other authorities swarmed the banquet hall as guests ducked under tables by the hundreds. “Out of the way, sir!” someone yelled. Others yelled to duck.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
Donald Trump's attendance at Saturday's annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington for his first time as president is putting his administration's often-contentious relationship with the press on full public display.
Trump arrived Saturday night to an event where the leaders of a nation at war mingled with celebrities, journalists and even a puppet — Triumph the Insult Comic Dog — in a dinner that typically generates debate about whether the relationship between journalists and their sources should include socializing together and putting aside sometimes adversarial relationships.
Trump was being watched closely at the event held by the organization of reporters who cover him and his administration. Past presidents who have attended have generally spoken about the importance of free speech and the First Amendment, adding in some light roasts about individual journalists.
The Republican president did not attend during his first term or the first year of his second. He came as a guest in 2011, sitting in the audience as President Barack Obama, a Democrat, made some jokes about the New York real estate developer. Trump also attended as a private citizen in 2015.
Trump entered the subterranean banquet hall of the Washington Hilton to the strains of “Hail to the Chief” and greeted prominent journalists on the dais, also pausing to laud White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt with a cheerful pointing of his finger.
Past dinners have also featured comedians who poke at presidents. This year, the group opted to hire mentalist Oz Pearlman as the featured entertainment.
Trump’s appearance is rekindling a longer running debate about the dinner and events like it — in particular, whether it is poor form for journalists to be seen socializing with the people they cover. The New York Times, for example, stopped attending the dinner more than a decade ago for that reason.
“What was once (a fairly long time ago) a well-intended night of fundraising and camaraderie among professional adversaries is now simply a bad look,” wrote Kelly McBride, ethics expert at the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank.
Between berating individual reporters, fighting organizations like the Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press in court and restricting press access to the Pentagon, the administration’s animus toward journalists has been a fixture of Trump’s second term.
On the eve of the dinner, nearly 500 retired journalists signed a petition calling on the association "to forcefully demonstrate opposition to President Trump’s efforts to trample freedom of the press.”
The WHCA president, CBS News reporter Weijia Jiang, said the organization was fighting for all different forms of the press that have a line in to the American people. “I don't think people realize how closely we are working with the White House,” she said on CSPAN before the dinner convened. “The relationship is important. It can be complicated. It can be intense. But it is robust.”
Welcoming guests, Jiang alluded to the contentious relationship in thanking Leavitt “for everything your team does to work with us every day, whether you like it or not.”
Veteran reporter Manu Raju of CNN, as he entered the Washington Hilton for the dinner, said it was not his role to express his opinion on Trump's relationship with the press. “I'm not an activist,” he said. “My job is not to protest.”
A few dozen protesters stood across the hotel in the runup to the event. One was dressed in a prison uniform, wearing a Pete Hegseth mask and red gloves. Another carried a sign saying “Journalism is dead.”
Many reporters who attend consider it a valuable opportunity to get story ideas and establish personal connections with those in government, one that may pay dividends with returned telephone calls in the future.
Journalists often invite sources as guests at the dinner. It will be noticed Saturday whether administration officials who have also expressed hostility to the press will attend, and with whom they will be sitting. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he was invited by the New York Post; Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were NBC guests.
The Associated Press invited a former Trump official that it sued last year. Taylor Budowich, a former White House deputy chief of staff who crafted communications policy, was a named defendant last year when the AP sued the administration after it reduced its access to the president because the news outlet did not follow Trump's lead in renaming the Gulf of Mexico.
“We maintain professional relationships with people across the political spectrum because we are nonpartisan by design — focused on reporting the facts in the public's interest,” AP spokesman Patrick Maks said.
The White House correspondents will also hand out awards for exemplary reporting. That includes some stories that displeased Trump, such as one from the Journal about a birthday message Trump once sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The story led to a presidential lawsuit.
AP journalists Collin Binkley and Sagar Meghani in Washington contributed to this report. David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife Cheryl Hines pose for photographers at the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
President Donald Trump arrives to the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin speaks to the media after being removed from the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
People are seen outside of the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
President Donald Trump's motorcade arrives at the White House Correspondents Dinner at the Washington Hilton, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
A woman is escorted from the White House Correspondents' Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach Fla., Friday, April 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
