Ted Ginn‘s season may not be over. The Saints view the veteran wide receiver as a player who has a good chance of returning from injured reserve.
Sean Payton said (via NOLA.com’s Josh Katzenstein) the possibility of Ginn coming back this season is “very realistic.” A Ginn knee injury prompted the Saints to move him to IR, but he’s already undergone arthroscopic surgery, Katzenstein notes.
Ginn played through the injury early in the season before inflammation shelved him, and he now won’t be able to return until Week 15. The Saints can attempt to rely on Cameron Meredith and Tre’Quan Smith as their top Michael Thomas sidekicks, but Ginn played well in this role a season ago. New Orleans has not brought anyone off IR yet, making the 33-year-old wideout a logical choice to be one of the two players that resurfaces in 2018.
The 12th-year veteran posted 787 yards last season, his most since 2008, and caught four touchdowns. He’s in the second season of a three-year, $11MM deal. With the Saints having returned to the playoffs last year and being on a four-game win streak, it would be shocking if they weren’t in position to contend for the NFC South title again this season, so veteran IR-return candidates would make sense for the reigning division champs.