Saints News: Former Pitt WR Suffers Season-Ending Injury

A former Pitt Panthers wide receiver won't play for the New Orleans Saints in 2025.

Sep 29, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; New Orleans Saints wide receiver Bub Means (16) on the field against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

PITTSBURGH — A former Pitt Panthers wide receiver had high hopes for his sophomore campaign in 2025, but had those dreams dashed due to a recent injury.

The New Orleans Saints placed wide receiver Bub Means on season-ending injured reserve, per the NFL transactions wire, knocking him out for the rest of 2025.

Means suffered an injury in the Saints first preseason game, a 27-13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium. He hurt his ankle and required a cart for him to take him off the field.

He also suffered an ankle injury vs. the Chargers at SoFi Stadium in Week 8 in 2024, which also kept him out the final 10 games of the season.

Means finished with nine catches for 118 yards and a touchdown as a rookie, with all of his production coming in the final three games he played in.

The Saints took Means with the 170th overall pick in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL Draft out of Pitt, where he spent his final two seasons.

Means made 27 catches for 401 yards and two touchdowns in 13 games as a redshirt junior in 2022 and then made 41 catches for 721 yards and six touchdowns as a redshirt senior in 2023, leading Pitt in touchdowns and receiving yards.

He finished time at Pitt catching 68 passes for 1,122 yards and eight touchdowns, the second-highest yardage total of any Pitt pass-catcher over that span. While those numbers might not come as elite to many, he excelled in spite of some of the worst Pitt quarterback play in recent memory. 

Pittsburgh Panthers wide receiver Bub Means (0) catches a pass overCincinnati Bearcats safety Deshawn Pace (3) in the end zone for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the NCAA football game between the Pittsburgh Panthers and the Cincinnati Bearcats at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023. The Bearcats improved to 2-0 with a 27-21 win on Pittsburgh. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Means was the first Pitt wide receiver to earn an NFL Draft selection since star wide out Tyler Boyd did so with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2016.

He started off at Tennessee as a defensive back in 2019, played four games to preserve a redshirt and transferred to Louisiana Tech. He transitioned to wide receiver while there and made 22 catches for 430 yards and two touchdowns in 2021.

The Saints will hope that they get Means back in 2026, healthy and ready to show why scouts were so high on him ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft.

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