Zaire Mitchell-Paden Rest-of-Season Outlook

An undrafted Florida Atlantic product who entered the league in 2022, Mitchell-Paden remains a blocking-first afterthought in the New Orleans passing game. The 2025 sample is microscopic: just 3 games, a 22.9 percent snap share, and only 26 routes for a 4.1 percent route rate. He drew 3 targets all year for a 0.7 percent target share and a 0.014 WOPR, catching 2 for 17 yards and a 14-yard long. The lone bright spot is efficiency on noise-level volume, a 0.382 EPA per play and 0.65 yards per route run, but 1.7 fantasy points tell the story.

At 26 with no draft capital and a route share that has never cracked single digits, there is no realistic path to relevance barring catastrophic injuries ahead of him. He logged 1 red-zone target and 1 end-zone look, so the only conceivable spike is a fluke goal-line score. This is not a streamer or a TE-premium dart; it is a roster-clogging depth body. Leave him on the waiver wire in all formats and skip the dynasty stash.