By: Jeremy Trottier

The New Orleans Saints have had one of the more interesting offseasons in 2021, with their cap space situation being the driving factor behind many of their cuts and signings.  With the minimal cap room they have created through cuts, they have been able to make some quality signings and re-signings that have really improved the roster for next season, or have extended the longevity of the roster strength due to extensions of elite players.  In this article, I will be going over the three signings or re-signings that improve the Saints roster the most this offseason.

Kwon Alexander ”“ LB 

A move that happened relatively recently, we have the return of Kwon Alexander to the Saints.  After being cut earlier this offseason due to an Achilles injury, the Saints brought him back on a much cheaper deal that is heavily incentive-laden, adding up to three million dollars this season if he meets the incentives.  Kwon was traded to the Saints last season for a conditional draft pick and LB Kiko Alonso, which ended up working pretty well for the Saints, as he started seven games for them and had a pretty respectable stat line:

• 7 games played (7 started)
• 4 passes deflected, 1 forced fumble, 2 fumble recoveries for 20 yards
• 27 total tackles, 1 QB hit, allowed 60.9% completion rating against him

Overall, he had a productive half-season or so for the Saints before his injury, keeping in mind those stats are solely from his games in New Orleans and not the five games he played with San Francisco prior to the trade.  Matching Kwon’s coverage capabilities alongside Demario Davis’ pass rush and run-stuffing abilities made for a very strong linebacker duo in NOLA.

Brian Poole ”“ CB

One of the better slot cornerbacks in the league is the second player on this list, in Brian Poole from most recently the New York Jets.  After another extremely effective season for Poole in 2020, he was picked up as a free agent by the Saints recently to bolster a relatively unknown CB core in terms of how proven they are outside Marshon Lattimore.  

Poole had a near career-high seven passed deflected (career-high was 9 in 2016) in 2020 in only nine games played and seven games started, as well as two interceptions.  He also had solid tackling numbers for less than half a season’s worth of starts, with 44 combined tackles, two tackles for loss, two QB hits, and four pressures.  Finally, he only allowed a 61.6 passer rating when targeted and a 64.1% completion percentage when targeted.

J.R. Sweezy ”“ OG

Finally, we have another relatively recent signing in offensive guard J.R. Sweezy, most recently of the Arizona Cardinals.  This is one of the best depth signings the Saints have made in a while, and Sweezy even has the potential to start if Cesar Ruiz does not perform this season.  Sweezy has started 104 career games and played in 117 games, the large majority of which being at right guard but some being at left guard. 

The main fault in his game is penalties, as he has had 49 in his career total, 10 of which coming in one season alone in 2015.  Every season that he started more than 11 games he had 6+ penalties and has never had a season where he had less than three.  This could definitely be cleaned up by the Saints coaching staff, however, as the large majority of his penalties are false starts, and those are pretty easy to work out of.  

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By: Jeremy Trottier

The New Orleans Saints have had one of the more interesting offseasons in 2021, mainly because of the outgoing pieces more so than the incoming ones.  With the loss of Emmanuel Sanders in free agency and now Michael Thomas to injury for 12-14 weeks from now, they are in a real predicament at the WR spot.  In this article, I will be going over the three reasons as to why the Saints should look to trade for New York Jets receiver Jamison Crowder.

Contract Price

One of the biggest limiters for the Saints right now would be cap space, despite having roughly 11 million right now to spend, they have many holes to fill both in depth and in starting even with that amount of money.  Jamison Crowder only has one year left on his deal, which would allow the Saints to either work on an extension if he proves useful or let him walk after this season with no dead cap repercussion.  

Looking specifically at his contract details, Crowder’s cap hit for 2021 will be a little over six million dollars, which fits well within the Saints budget.  This would allow them to have no issue trading for him, especially if they were to offload extra cap space with players in the trade, potentially along the lines of Andrus Peat to help the Jets offensive interior.  

WR1 Potential

Jamison Crowder has played WR1 before, there is no doubt about that.  He has also played WR2 before, which would allow him to play alongside Michael Thomas when he returns.  This type of versatility from a receiver is highly valued, as they know that at any time they can be moved behind another receiver, and can accept that.

Crowder has been really effective with his targets, having a 66.3% catch rating and 11.6 yards per reception average shows he has the quality to produce at a high level if given the targets to do so.  The two seasons he had over 100 targets he had 750+ yards each season, a 64% catch rating, and more than 35 first downs each season.  Despite not being a big-name receiver in the league, his productivity and efficiency per reception is very good.

Scheme Fit

Crowder would really be an interesting fit on the Saints because he fits their old scheme with many short to intermediate passes across the middle.  With that said, the development of a new quarterback in NOLA may change that, Jameis Winston would likely look more to the deep ball than Drew Brees has in recent years, and Taysom Hill would focus more on play-action and reverses.  

Crowder fits each of these well, as his speed allows him to carry well into the deeper portions of the field and make big plays happen with little to no issue.  This speed also would translate well to end-around and reverses as he could get to the sideline quickly and open up a lane alongside it.  Being able to play in an offense tailored by Sean Payton, one of the more prominent offensive minded coaches recently would definitely be something to benefit Crowder as he would be used in every way possible to improve his stat totals and improve the team. 

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The Saints lost some valuable pieces on their defensive line in free agency this offseason. Sheldon Rankins, Trey Hendrickson and Malcom Brown will all be contributing for other teams next season. With three players on the defensive line departing for other teams, there is plenty of room for another free agent to step in and have an immediate impact.

Kawann Short has battled injuries throughout the past two seasons, only playing in five games in the last two years combined, but if he is healthy he would be a great addition to the Saints. He would be a cheap option for them to look at, and he could come in and be a key rotational player if he can stay healthy.

Health is a big question mark for Short at this point in his career, but they could sign him to a non-guaranteed contract, and it could pay off big if he remains healthy. He would provide much needed depth with his ability to stop the run and rush the passer.

Short’s Career thus far

It has been a rough couple of years for Short, but prior to 2019, he was a model of consistency and durability. Short is 32 years old and is a 2x Pro Bowler (2015, 2018), with 32.5 sacks and 59 tackles for loss throughout his career.

In 2015, Short made a name for himself, earning his first Pro Bowl nod, and became an every down starter for the Carolina Panthers. He was a one of the most dominant forces on the defensive line in the NFL, while totaling 11 sacks, 16 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles and 18 QB hits, all career highs.

2018 was the last season where Short looked dominant, where he earned his second Pro Bowl nod, but totaled only three sacks, 12 tackles for loss and seven QB hits. Short still had a productive season and had to overcome lots of double and triple teams. Ever since that season, Short has struggled to stay on the field, but it is possible a new team and training staff could be just what Short needs to rejuvenate his career.

Short is skilled at stuffing the run and getting to the quarterback, and even though he has battled injuries the last two years, he would provide a veteran presence for the Saints. He would not be expected to be an every down lineman, and would be a great backup for Malcolm Roach and David Onyemata.

Adding depth to the front seven is never a bad idea, and if the contract was non-guaranteed there is essentially no risk for the Saints to bring him in. Short has recovered from the shoulder injuries that have kept him sidelined the last two seasons, and he appears to be drawing interest from numerous teams.

Once injuries begin for teams across the league, Short will not be a free agent for much longer. With OTAs under way, injuries are inevitable for every team, which means the Saints need to be proactive in signing Short before another team does.

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By: Jeremy Trottier

With the 2021 NFL offseason close to being coming over, and training camps coming in the near future, we have had another chance to see teams being managed both poorly and very well.  Coming into this offseason, the Saints had one of the worst outlooks, due to their financial liabilities as well as not having nearly enough draft picks to fill all the holes made.  Yet here we are, the Saints still looking poised to be in contention for a division title. 

If the Saints do take the division title again this year, that would make their fifth in a row, which is more than any other franchise in the division has had in a row since 2002 (conception of the division with these four teams.).  With that said, there is a reason the Saints have been dominating in this stat for the last four seasons.  His name is Mickey Loomis.  In this article, I will be going over three reasons why Loomis should be considered the best general manager in the game today.  

Cap Space Compliance

This one has to be by far the most interesting and pertinent to the situation.  The last few years obviously the Saints have been competitors and have made the playoffs for awhile now.  They have continued to do so without having to get rid of many of the core pieces to this roster.  The reason being is that Loomis is absolutely amazing at working around the cap ceiling.

Take this year for example.  Loomis was able to shed roughly 99 million dollars of cap space in about two months, while keeping the core intact for next season.  He also did this under the Covid-19 cap ceiling, which is significantly lower than it has been in previous years due to little to no in person attendance.  This was absolutely wild to watch as a fan of the league, as he worked around every possible outcome to make this happen.

Anywhere from normal cuts to a huge amount of re-structured deals, to an 140 million dollar “extension” for Taysom Hill, in which all years are voidable and they do not have to pay a dime after this year.  Mickey has been an absolute force when it comes to clearing out the cap situation in a time effective and knowledgeable manner.  He was even able to franchise tag Marcus Williams for another ten million dollars this offseason, as well as sign some free agents and draft picks.  We are likely looking at over 110 million dollars cleared from the cap overall to comply with league standards this offseason.

Draft Picks & Draft Day Trade Success

In the last four years, the Saints front office has not drafted a non-starting player to their roster in the first three rounds at any point.  Just to prove this, I will list every player from 2016-2020 they have taken in rounds one through three, and how many starts they have on the team so far.

• 2016: Sheldon Rankins (33 starts), Michael Thomas (62 starts), Vonn Bell (45 starts for NOLA, 16 in Cincinnati), David Onyemata (4^th rounder, 40 starts)
• 2017: Marshon Lattimore (57 starts in 57 games), Ryan Ramczyk (63 starts in 63 games), Marcus Williams (60 starts in 60 games), Alvin Kamara (35 starts), Alex Anzalone (20 starts), Trey Hendrickson (18 starts)
• 2018: Marcus Davenport (14 starts), Tre ”˜Quan Smith (23 starts)
• 2019: Erik McCoy (32 starts in 32 games), Chauncey Gardner-Johnson (4^th rounder, 20 starts)
• 2020: Cesar Ruiz (9 starts in rookie year), Zack Baun (3 starts), Adam Trautman (6 starts)

With quite a few people saying the Saints drafted poorly in 2021, they really need to take a look at the history of their picks.  While some of them were seen as questionable picks at the time, at the end of the day they turned out to be very solid players.  Loomis has been able to facilitate some great draft classes over the years and will likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Facilitation of Staff

Finally, we have Mickey’s ability to rebuild staff that leaves the franchise and keep the most important ones.  Starting with Sean Payton, one of the best offensive masterminds in the league leading the pack.  His ability to take someone nobody knew at the time in Taysom Hill and turning him into one of the best gadget players if not the face of gadget players in the league is nothing short of impressive.

They have also been able to retain Jeff Ireland, who has been fantastic at scouting players over the course of his career, and is a high level assistant GM.  In terms of positional coaches, you have Ryan Nielsen and brought in Kris Richard, Nielsen being a very consistent coach for the defensive line and being able to develop players very quickly.  Then Richard being a new hire, who will again be working with a Stanford rookie CB (Paulson Adebo) after working with a former one during the legion of boom in Richard Sherman.

Overall, the ability to retain the main functional pieces of the coaching staff while being able to also bring in new improvements for the franchise is exceptional.  This is a huge reason as to why he should be seen as one of the best GMs in the league. 

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The New Orleans Saints selected Payton Turner with the 28th overall pick in the 2021 draft. Most of Who Dat Nation found this pick to be puzzling, as they were rumored to be seeking a starting cornerback opposite Marshon Lattimore. I don’t find this pick surprising, nor do I believe it’s concerning. 

The Saints came into the offseason with an attitude of maintaining a championship-level roster. They may have lost a few players in free agency, but they opted to heavily invest in the QB position after Brees retired while retaining a prime player in the secondary (Marcus Williams) — despite being dead last in the NFL in cap space. Headed into the draft, the Saints were rumored to be looking for a trade-up in the draft, despite holding the 28th pick. The Saints opted to select a highly talented edge player that they could “move around/play with” with vs reaching for a CB/WR. I believe that Turner was the right choice for the Saints and he will prove to be a long-lasting pass rusher for the Saints franchise. 

Here are the main reasons why the Saints struck gold with Turner:

The Saints bread and butter was a 3-headed monster from the DE position

The Saints had arguably the best trio of defensive ends in the NFL last season: Cam Jordan, Marcus Davenport, and Trey Hendrickson. In particular, Hendrickson was the ignition to the machine – leading the team in sacks (12.5). Not only was Hendrickson dominant, but he allowed Jordan and Davenport to get rest — this ultimately helped the pass rush as a unit. 

Now that the production of Hendrickson is gone, which was A LOT, they need to TRY and replace some of it. The Saints can’t rely on Davenport to be healthy, let alone take a massive step in production. So, they need another quality face in the QB chasing unit. Insert Payton Turner.

One of the things that’s fantastic about Turner is his versatility. The 6’6 260 DE has experience playing defensive tackle and that will allow Dennis Allen to get creative with Turner inside, while Davenport and Jordan are attacking off the edges. 

Cameron Jordan is 31 and Marcus Davenport has underperformed: Long term DEs? 

As stated above, the Saints boasted three prolific pass rushers in 2020. The alpha isn’t in a Saints uniform, but the other two remain on the roster. There are long term question marks with the talented starting DEs on the roster. Starting with Jordan, the former All-Pro posted his lowest sack total in 2020 (7.5) since 2016. His TFL count (11) was also his lowest tally since 2014. Jordan is a relentless player, but cracks are showing as father time catches up. 

Marcus Davenport holds the biggest question mark at the DE position and the team. The 6’6 270 edge player that clocks a 4.5 40 time hasn’t lived up to his draft stature, to say the least. Davenport has clocked 12 sacks in three seasons to show for his name. He’s also had trouble staying on the field — Davenport has missed a whopping 11 games in three seasons for the Saints. 

Turner provides lots of long-term potential to this unit that could easily be missing two more big-name DEs in the next two-three seasons.  If Davenport does show his talent on a consistent basis and Turner unveils to be a great asset, then the Saints found themselves a monster pass-rushing duo for many years to come.

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The New Orleans Saints have been involved in quarterback drama since the 2021 offseason began. There have been ridiculous mock trades for Deshaun Watson and Russell Wilson in every which aisle.

We would all love to see the Saints have a young MVP like QB with Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas, but it very likely won’t happen. Not only do the Saints have the worst shopping budget in the NFL, but their draft picks are hardly enticing (especially if they picked up Wilson/Watson).

Sean Payton knows they need a quality QB and a long-term signal-caller on their roster. Mickey Loomis has also stated that they still want to maximize their loaded roster — with or without Drew Brees. They seem very interested in Jameis Winston, but I don’t know if the Saints would pay him as some other teams could.

If it becomes more clear that Winston is not going to be the long-term answer and Sean Payton prefers to trade for a reasonable QB over drafting Mac Jones/Kyle Trask, where could he look? I’m going to break down this interesting perspective and foresee which unheralded QB Payton could lure to the Big Easy.

Marcus Mariota

I would say that Marcus Mariota, not Taysom Hill, was the best backup dual-threat QB last season. Mariota was the victim of a career-low season combined with Tannehill revolting into a Pro Bowl QB in a picture-perfect Derrick Henry-led attack.

I have the sensation that Payton loves more to imagine a quality dual threat QB in his orceshtra more than seeing something very special with Taysom Hill. And Mariota could be the guy to deliver on this vision.

It’s often forgetting that Mariota is only 27 years old. To put it in comparison, Derek Carr is 29 years old, Ryan Tannehill is 32 years old (five years older!), and Taysom Hill is 30 years old! Mariota can be the actual long-term answer if he shows out for the Saints early on.

According to Washington Times, Washington has already tried to acquire Mariota. And there’s also been rumors of Mariota landing in Philadelphia. Saints should make their move if they see a fit… and they would get a year remaining from his two-year, 17.6 million dollar contract with LV to see if he can prove himself.

Jimmy Garoppolo

The San Francisco 49ers QB has been up and down the roller coaster trade hype train this offseason. But, now things are heating up between the 49ers being interested in Teddy Bridgewater, according to NBC Sports. Bridgewater and Garoppolo have similar traits, but Teddy B might be that guy that stays healthy in Shanahan’s view.

If Jimmy G is on the trade block or opens to a reasonable deal, I believe he’s the top of the modest QB trade chart — a step below Watson/Wilson. Sean Payton has a lot of confidence in himself, along with the elite weapons and offensive line to help Garoppolo.

The 49ers QB is on a massive contract of 5 years-137 million, but it could become restructured in a trade.

Multiple analysts have projected Jimmy G to land with the Patriots, while Mel Kiper projects the 49ers to trade up for a QB. There’s a lot of speculation around the 49ers having a new QB somehow and someway for the 2021 season.

Saints hold the 28th overall pick, so they could deal this pick and give the 49ers more ammunition to trade up for their QB. And from the Saints side of things, Jimmy G should be ahead of Kyle Trask right now (assuming Mac Jones is off the board).

Nick Foles

The answer to the Saints playoff woes has arrived. All jokes sides (kind of), Foles could step into the Saints offense virtually display a similar style of play as Winston, but have better poise shown in his career.

Foles has no nerves in the fourth quarter and he could also fully utilize the Saints weapons in the two-minute drive as the 2-minute legend himself Drew Brees does. Foles was excellent in Andy Reid’s offense with dink and dunking, then hitting an excellent playmaker on the right drawn up play vertically. Foles could be a better game manager than Bridgewater for Payton’s offense.

If Saints do opt to resign Winston or ride with Taysom Hill, Foles would be the perfect QB to compete. And I personally believe Foles would beat out Taysom Hill as time goes on.

A huge factor between the Saints and Bears is Ryan Pace. GM Ryan Pace was once a member of the Saints front office and there are strong ties between Mickey Loomis and Pace. If Sean Payton wants to trade for a modest QB that could compete right away, while carrying the most promising background, Foles makes the most sense.

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