After spending the last four seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, veteran running back Ty Chandler took his talents to the NFC South earlier this year and signed with the New Orleans Saints.
Chandler's preseason with the Saints got off to an impressive start after he had an 86-yard kick return in the team's first exhibition game of the summer. But in New Orleans' second preseason contest this past weekend, the former Vikings running back reportedly suffered an injury that could prevent him from making much of an impact for his new team in the upcoming regular season.
According to NewOrleans.Football's Nick Underhill on Monday, Chandler sustained a knee injury in the Saints' 34-0 preseason loss to the Los Angeles Rams that "is feared to be serious."
It's unfortunate timing for Chandler since he could have potentially had a notable role in New Orleans' offense to begin the regular season, as Saints running back Alvin Kamara is currently dealing with his own knee injury.
Instead, it now seems like there's a chance that he might not even get to suit up for New Orleans during the upcoming 2026 campaign.
Former Minnesota Vikings RB Ty Chandler reportedly suffers setback in New Orleans Saints preseason game
Hopefully, Chandler is able to recover sooner rather than later. If he doesn't, then his time in the NFL could be reaching the end earlier than he likely expected.
Chandler was originally selected in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Vikings. His speed (4.38-second 40-yard dash time) is what caught Minnesota's eye, and Kevin O'Connell was hoping that one day, he could replace Dalvin Cook as the team's burner in the offensive backfield.
In Chandler's rookie year with the Vikings, a thumb injury limited him to just three games. His second season with Minnesota went much better, as he appeared in all 17 games, including four starts, and he rushed for 461 yards and three touchdowns in addition to catching 21 passes for 159 yards.
Despite Chandler's increase in production with the Vikings in 2023, the team went out and signed veteran running back Aaron Jones during the 2024 offseason. Minnesota liked Chandler, but they clearly didn't view him as anything more than a solid RB2.
With Jones getting the majority of the snaps in the Vikings' offensive backfield, Chandler only touched the football 62 times in 2024, which translated to just 224 total yards.
Minnesota made their feelings about Chandler even more emphatically clear during the 2025 offseason when they re-signed Jones and made a trade with the San Francisco 49ers to acquire Jordan Mason.
Chandler began the 2025 campaign as RB3, and unfortunately, a knee injury suffered in Week 1 limited him to just three appearances all season long.
Fast forward to now, and it's another knee injury that is expected to keep Chandler sidelined in his first season with the Saints. His knee injury in 2025 caused him to miss multiple months of action, and based on Monday's report from Underhill, it seems like this latest one could have a similar outcome.
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