The New Orleans Saints must upgrade the left guard spot this offseason, with longtime starter Andrus Peat expected to walk away in free agency. They have a few options on the roster already — veteran Nick Easton, signed last year, has to be the favorite — but otherwise only a couple of inexperienced reserves are on hand, like Will Clapp and Cameron Tom (if he re-signs, being a restricted free agent).

Unfortunately, the 2020 free agent crop isn’t very deep, largely made up of backups looking for their big break. The Saints will probably need to make a big splash if they want to improve. We’ll break the group into tiers following the same general standards from an earlier post discussing free agent options at wide receiver.

Bank-Breakers ($8 million or more per year)

• Brandon Scherff, Washington Redskins
• Joe Thuney, New England Patriots
• Graham Glasgow, Detroit Lions

Scherff is the brightest star in this group, and rightly so: when healthy, there aren’t many blockers who can match him in pass protection. But Scherff has missed 15 games in the last three years, and was limited to just 11 appearances last season while managing elbow and shoulder injuries. He would have to slide back to the left side, his college position, after playing right guard in the NFL.

Enter Thuney, the Patriots stalwart who hasn’t missed a game in four years. Thuney has started predominately at left guard, though he’s played right tackle in a pinch. He’s been graded highly in both pass protection and run blocking, and would be a terrific fit with the Saints. The only concern is that the Patriots rarely let great players like him walk away.

Glasgow is an interesting prospect with experience at both guard and center. He’s developed into a nice blocker who rarely blows his assignments or gets dinged with penalties. The question is whether the Saints would be willing to overpay him in what’s looking like a top-heavy market for guards.