Across the NFL teams have reported for training camp and are preparing to make a run at the Lombardi Trophy during the 2026 season.
That means fans are getting excited, not just about the players added through free agency and the draft during the offseason, but for players drafted in prior seasons who have yet to live up to the potential fans had hoped for at the time the player was selected.
For the New Orleans Saints, one of those players the team had hoped to see more from is 2024 second round pick
of the New England Patriots, Ja’Lynn Polk.
Polk caught just 12 passes on 33 targets for 87 yards and a pair of touchdowns as a rookie for Jerod Mayo’s 2024 squad in New England, and then missed the entire 2025 season following shoulder surgery. While on injured reserve the Patriots traded Polk to the New Orleans Saints in a day-three pick swap, and now not only is Polk’s 2026 campaign over, his career appears over as well. According to reports, the 24-year old receiver has opted to retire from the NFL and has been placed on the reserve/retired list by the Saints.
Polk scored his first career touchdown against the Seahawks in Week 2 of the 2024 season, and then set career highs in receptions (3) and yards (30) against the San Francisco 49ers two weeks later.
He retires as the least productive receiver drafted in the second round since practice time limitations were put into place in 2011 collective bargaining agreement. His 87 career yards are easily bested by the 228 receiving yards of the second least productive second receiver drafted since 2011, Dee Eskridge.
