Few teams made as many surprising moves at the NFL roster cuts deadline as the New Orleans Saints this week, with the black and gold trading Pro Bowl kicker Wil Lutz to the Denver Broncos (for a reunion with his old coach Sean Payton) while releasing third-year punter Blake Gillikin (who is already getting tryouts with other teams as a free agent).
But Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport writes that veteran cornerback Bradley Roby, not either of those specialists, is the roster cut that could come back to haunt the Saints:
Roby may have been worth keeping around even if he wasn’t starting. The Saints didn’t really need the $3.3 million in salary cap savings (they were already under the cap by more than $11 million), even if that’s a lot to pay a backup. But as Davenport absorbed, depth suddenly looks like a vulnerability at cornerback.
Lattimore (who missed 10 games last year with injuries) is anchoring one side of the field. Paulson Adebo (who missed 4 games last season with his own injury) is manning the other sideline, with Alontae Taylor (also down 4 games in his rookie year) picking up a new position in the slot. It’s worth acknowledging that Roby had to sit out 4 games with an injury, too, but now instead of having him come off the bench the Saints are left with veteran backup Isaac Yiadom and undrafted rookie Anthony Johnson as their reserves.
The good news is that Ugo Amadi is backing up Taylor in the slot, so if there is an injury at another position the Saints can move some guys around and get a veteran on the field who they have some confidence in; Amadi’s summer was as impressive as anyone in New Orleans. But they’re another injury away from thrusting someone into a starting role who isn’t ready for it. That’s closer to the reality for most NFL teams than the position of strength they enjoyed last season. Hopefully injuries aren’t a problem on the back end so this won’t be an issue.
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