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Bad news hit the New Orleans Saints on Wednesday, with ESPN’s Adam Schefter reporting that left guard Andrus Peat suffered a broken arm in Sunday’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Peat went through surgery Wednesday and the team expects him to be sidelined for six weeks, per Schefter’s report. That would put him on the shelf until their Dec. 22 game with the Tennessee Titans.
It’s a big loss for the Saints. Despite his inconsistent level of play, Peat was their best option to start at left guard as well as the immediate backup for left tackle Terron Armstead. He’ll likely be replaced by his own backup, second-year pro Will Clapp, though free-agent signee Nick Easton should also be a candidate to get playing time. Easton has been a healthy scratch in six of nine games after signing a four-year, $20 million contract with New Orleans earlier this year.
It couldn’t come at a worse time for Peat, who is scheduled to test free agency in the spring. The 25-year-old is playing out the fifth-year option of his rookie contract, guaranteeing him $9.625 million in 2019. The sad state of offensive line play around the league means he’ll have plenty of bidders looking to pay him to start at either left tackle or left guard, and probably put him out of New Orleans’ price range even with this injury.
And injury concerns are something that has dogged Peat throughout his career: he’s never played a 16-game season, despite coming close in both 2016 and 2017 with 15 games played in each outing, though his 2017 season ended with a broken leg. He missed three games in 2018 due to a sprained ankle, concussion, and broken hand, but made the Pro Bowl as an alternate. A growing list of injuries, poor positional fits (the Saints tried him out at both tackle and guard on each side of the line before settling at left guard), and a probably-high price tag mean his days in New Orleans may be numbered.
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