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The New Orleans Saints have dozens of tough decisions to make in the next few months. They’re facing a large group of pending free agents, with several starters and many big contributors among them. New Orleans is going to be dealing with limited salary cap resources again this year, but the 2020 signing period could be the first time they’ve really been limited by it.

Not all of their free agents should return. Whether it’s because they’ve played themselves out of the Saints’ price range or have disappointed by not playing as well as expected, some Saints will be looking for new squads in March. Here are our five picks for players who shouldn’t re-sign, for one reason or another.

Ted Ginn Jr., wide receiver

Hopes were high for Ginn after his breakout 2017 campaign with the Saints, having posted the highest rate of receptions per game (3.53), receiving yards per game (52.5), and catch rate (75.7%). Each of those numbers trailed off during his next two years in New Orleans, falling to 1.9 catches and 26.3 yards per game in 2019, with a catch rate of just 53.6%. He closed out the 2019 season with only three catches for 41 yards in his final four games. It’s time for the Saints to invest in younger, more capable options in the receiving corps behind Michael Thomas.

Andrus Peat, guard/tackle

The Saints have been patient with Peat, trying him out at four different offensive line positions before he settled in at left guard. Film study gurus swear that he’s one of ten or twelve best guards in the NFL, but that says more about the sad state of guard play in the league than anything great about Peat. He’s been a liability in too many big moments and is by far the weak link for the Saints up front. Even if they have to draft a rookie guard highly or invest in another veteran, they have to find a way to upgrade his roster spot.

A.J. Klein, linebacker

Klein has developed into a fine starter for the Saints, and even come through in some clutch situations. With two of next year’s three projected starters currently rehabbing injuries, it does make sense for the team to consider re-signing him. But the relatively-high salary cap hits for Demario Davis ($9.9 million) and Kiko Alonso ($6.4 million) make it tough to justify investing too much in a third veteran, and this could be Klein’s last opportunity to cash in with a big NFL contract. It’ll be tough for the Saints to reach a compromise with him, because he probably deserves more than they’ll be able to budget for him.

David Onyemata, defensive tackle

Much like Klein, Onyemata is someone the Saints picked up and developed into a quality NFL player — he hadn’t even heard of football until he started classes at the University of Manitoba. He’s come a long way; Onyemata created 3 sacks and a career-best 11 quarterback hits in 2019 while starting 15 games in place of Sheldon Rankins. He’s a big part of the rotation up front, having led all interior linemen with 37.7 snaps played per game. Losing him would be huge, but he’s set himself up to earn at least as much as the Saints just paid nose tackle Malcom Brown ($15 million over three years), and the Saints may have bigger fish to fry. At least they’ve been developing backups like Shy Tuttle and Taylor Stallworth for larger roles.

Austin Carr, wide receiver

Carr played the fourth-most snaps at wide receiver for the Saints last year (188), which is almost as much as Deonte Harris, Krishawn Hogan, Lil’Jordan Humphrey, and Keith Kirkwood had combined (213). He used all those opportunities to catch one pass for nine yards. The Saints were so thin at receiver this year that Carr was averaging 31.3 snaps per game and he still wasn’t a viable part of the passing game. If he’s back on the roster in 2020, it’s because the Saints failed to take a serious look at the depth chart and realized big changes are needed to support Drew Brees.

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