METAIRIE, La. -- The New Orleans Saints have one eye on the future with the 2025 NFL season halfway over.
That much became evident when the Saints made two moves right before Tuesday's 4 p.m. ET deadline, trading wide receiver Rashid Shaheed and offensive lineman Trevor Penning for future draft picks.
"We lost two guys that have contributed for this organization for a long time and been positive examples to everyone around this place," Saints coach Kellen Moore said. "It's going to provide opportunities for some other guys and there's certainly some excitement I think from that component."
The trades were the next step in a rebuilding process that really began a year ago, when coach Dennis Allen was fired following the Saints' loss to the Carolina Panthers on Nov. 3.
Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan said despite the Saints' current 1-8 record, this locker room has "way better energy" than last year's team, which was 2-7 when Allen was fired.
"Last year it felt like we were devoid of energy. I won't say hope, but this year, it's just like we understand what we have to do and it has to be a we thing," Jordan said. "Each one of these guys, each one of these men, is working their butt off in practice and they're all speaking the same things."
The Saints will host the Panthers this Sunday (1 p.m. ET, Fox) in a game that won't spawn any coaching changes in Kellen Moore's first season. Instead, it will kick off an eight-game stretch following the trades in which New Orleans will be able to evaluate players for the future.
The Saints have done a few things since their last trip to Charlotte to try to turn things around. They drafted quarterback Tyler Shough in the second round after Derek Carr's retirement, drafted left tackle Kelvin Banks and replaced two starting safeties.
Those moves haven't been enough yet to fix the Saints, who have a long way to go to be competitive in their current state. New Orleans, facing its worst start since the 1980 season, ranks last in the league in time of possession, 29th in total offense and 31st in scoring offense. It is 18th in total defense, 24th in scoring defense and 20th in sacks.
The loss of Shaheed will likely lead to more snaps for wide receiver Devaughn Vele, who the Saints acquired from the Denver Broncos for a 2026 fourth-round pick and a 2027 seventh-round pick. It will also cement Dillon Radunz, signed as a free agent in the offseason, as the new starting left guard.
"It'll be a great chance for Devaughn Vele to kind of get some action and I think we've been trying to do as much as we can up to this point," Shough said. "I think he's a really, really good player from his skill set."
Earlier this year, the Saints made several trades to acquire players, including sending a 2026 seventh-round pick to the New England Patriots for defensive tackle Davon Godchaux, trading defensive tackle Khalen Saunders to the Jacksonville Jaguars for Luke Fortner, and acquiring Patriots wide receiver Ja'Lynn Polk, who is on injured reserve for the year, in exchange for a 2027 sixth-round pick.
The trade deadline was a role reversal for the Saints, who sent players away in exchange for draft capital. They got a 2027 sixth-round pick for Penning and fourth and fifth-round picks in 2026 for Shaheed.
In the 2026 draft, they'll have picks in the first, second, third, fourth and sixth rounds and two picks in the fifth round.
Moore was asked on Wednesday whether the trades, combined with the team's record, was an acknowledgement that building for the future has become more of a priority.
"Obviously there's a future component of this that's real with what came back in return, but it provides opportunities for some guys that we feel really good about," Moore said. "... Dillon [Radunz] is going to play left guard ... Receiver room, [Devaughn] Vele and [Mason Tipton], [Brandin Cooks], those guys are going to obviously play more snaps naturally. ... You can compete and go after each and every one of these games like we always do and still provide yourself with something in the future."
The biggest evaluation the Saints will have to make looking ahead is on Shough, who started his first game last week after Spencer Rattler was benched. Shough's job likely hasn't been made easier by the loss of Shaheed or injuries to center Erik McCoy (on IR with an elbow injury) or right tackle Taliese Fuaga (ankle).
"It's obviously a tough loss [losing Shaheed], but at the same time you understand the business side of it and understand what we're trying to do," Shough said. "It's a great opportunity for guys to come up and step up in that role and be able to go out there and contribute."
Shaheed, an undrafted rookie free agent out of Weber State in 2022, was an All-Pro kick returner in 2023 and has been the team's primary deep threat. While the team will lose those components without him on the field, the Saints failed to assimilate him into the short and intermediate game -- of his 12 receiving touchdowns, only two were 20 yards or less.
That likely made for a difficult decision as to what a possible extension might have looked like. Shaheed was going to be a free agent in the offseason after signing a one-year, $5.2 million extension last year.
They'll also have other decisions to make next year regarding the voiding contracts of Jordan, Demario Davis, Taysom Hill and Foster Moreau, in addition to a potential new contract for wide receiver Chris Olave, who will be on his fifth-year option in 2026.
The Saints currently have almost $12 million in available salary cap space. Because Vele is on his rookie deal through 2027, they'll get some cap relief at that position.
What will the rest of the season look like for the Saints? According to ESPN's Football Power Index, the Saints and Tennessee Titans both have a 0.0 percent chance of making the postseason. The priorities for New Orleans will undoubtedly shift for the season's second-half stretch, pushing development for rookies such as Shough, Banks, Quincy Riley, Jonas Sanker, and Danny Stutsman to the forefront.
"Obviously results are the most important part of it, but you've got to make sure our process is going in the right direction," Moore said. "... We've got some young guys that have gotten better through the course of this thing. We're going to learn, allow a lot of these guys to grow as we go through this process and so there'll be some really good success because of that."