Moliki Matavao: Everything you need to know

Matavao finished the 2025 season with two receptions (on two targets) for 10 yards in six appearances for the Saints. Matavao opened his 2025 rookie season in a special-teams role before he was let go and joined the Saints' practice squad. The seventh-rounder spent time on and off the active roster toward the end of the season, as New Orleans dealt with a rash of injuries, including season-ending injuries for tight ends Foster Moreau (ankle) and Jack Stoll (knee). Matavao will look to carve out a larger role in 2026.

Matavao played 27 of the Saints' 54 snaps on offense and recorded two catches for 10 yards in Sunday's 34-26 win over the Titans. After being signed off the practice squad prior to the Week 17 contest, Matavao ended up ranking second among Saints tight ends in playing time, with Jack Stoll's (knee) early exit opening up more snaps behind top option Juwan Johnson. Matavao took advantage of the added snaps by producing his first two NFL receptions, but the rookie seventh-round pick will remain far off the fantasy radar Week 18 at Atlanta so long as Johnson is available for the Saints.

The Saints signed Matavao from the practice squad to the active roster Friday. The move corresponds with the Saints placing fellow tight end Foster Moreau (ankle) on injured reserve. Matavao was selected by the Saints in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft, but the UCLA product has bounced back and forth between the practice squad and the active roster. He figures to be the Saints' TE4 behind Juwan Johnson, Taysom Hill and Jack Stoll over the final two games of the regular season.