Saints waive Bryan Edwards as wide receiver competition remains stout

The competition at wide receiver for the New Orleans Saints is quite crowded.

Without any doubt, Chris Olave, Michael Thomas and Rashid Shaheed will be part of the mix and counted on heavily.

Keith Kirkwood and Tre’Quan Smith, the latter still battling injuries, appear to have the inside track at the next two spots.

The question is whether the Saints will keep six receivers, while seven would be exceptionally high number unless Dennis Allen feels some are simply too important and that good on special teams.

Rookies A.T. Perry and Shaq Davis have acquitted themselves nicely in preseason games and both have size, youth and upside. Jontre Kirklin, Lynn Bowden, Kawaan Baker and Kirk Merritt have all done some good things.

The two veterans New Orleans brought in during the offseason to compete for spots are both gone. The Saints have released Bryan Edwards, a week after releasing James Washington.

Edwards struggled mightily in the preseason victory Sunday at Los Angeles over the Chargers. He committed a pair of offensive pass interference infractions with each one erasing a touchdown pass from Jake Haener. Edwards also did not hold on to a pass from Haener.

With three years of NFL experience, Edwards played seven games for Atlanta last season. the University of South Carolina product has played in 35 games in his career with 48 catches for 779 yards and four touchdowns.