Category: 2025 free agency

PFF names Paulson Adebo one of the NFL’s most underrated players

Pro Football Focus picked New Orleans Saints cornerback Paulson Adebo as one of the NFL’s most underrated players:

Paulson Adebo developed into a player the New Orleans saints could lean on in 2023. The cornerback is going into his fourth season in black and gold, and he’s gotten the team through some tough situations when Marshon Lattimore was sidelined by injuries and Alontae Taylor was getting picked on while learning to cover the slot. Adebo is still searching for his first Pro Bowl Games appearance, but he is well-known to those in the know.

And he’s starting to draw more attention. Pro Football Focus analyst Zoltan Buday, who identified the most underrated player on all 32 teams. Here’s why he says Adebo stands apart from his Saints teammates:

Although Adebo has earned a lot of playing time since the Saints drafted him in the third round in 2021, it was not until 2023 that he put it all together and started playing as one of the better cornerbacks in the NFL. His 78.7 PFF overall grade ranked 15th among cornerbacks in 2023, and he orchestrated a three-game stretch between Weeks 8 and 10 as the NFL’s highest-graded cornerback in coverage (94.6). Adebo recorded four interceptions over those three weeks

While he’s intercepted just seven passes in 44 career games, Adebo has gotten his hands on plenty of footballs. He’s tied with L’Jarius Sneed for the most passes defensed (33) since entering the league in 2021, which ranks 16th among all cornerbacks over the last three years.

And like Sneed, Adebo is headed for a big payday. After being traded to the Tennessee Titans this offseason, Sneed agreed to terms on a four-year, $76.4 million deal that guaranteed him $51.4 million at signing. For context, Sneed has matched Adebo’s totals in interceptions (7) and passes deflected (33) while playing in four more games. He’s also more than two years Adebo’s senior, having turned 27 in January (Adebo celebrates his 25th birthday in July).

So Adebo won’t be an underrated player much longer. If he can sustain his impressive level of play in 2023 into 2024 he’ll be a coveted free agent in 2025. The question then becomes whether the Saints can afford to re-sign him. With trade speculation surrounding Lattimore, Adebo’s uncertain future helps explain why the Saints have drafted second-round corners like Taylor and Kool-Aid McKinstry in recent years. For now, they should enjoy the benefits of strong depth in the secondary.

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Saints decline to pick up Payton Turner’s fifth year option

The New Orleans Saints declined to pick up Payton Turner’s fifth year option, meaning he’ll become a free agent in 2025 — if he lasts that long:

The NFL deadline for teams to pick up the fifth-year options for 2025 on their first round picks in the 2021 draft came and went on Thursday, without any movement from the New Orleans Saints. This means that defensive end Payton Turner is entering a contract year in 2024, and that he’ll be a free agent in 2025 unless he earns an extension.

It would have cost the Saints more than $13 million in 2025 to exercise Turner’s option, so it’s easy to understand why they declined to do so. Just 18 of the 32 first-round picks in 2021 had those options picked up by their teams, suggesting a hit rate of about 56% — with the Saints among 14 teams on the wrong side of that percentage.

What’s frustrating is that all three of the players at Turner’s position, who were picked immediately after him in Round 1, have outplayed him:

  • Payton Turner: 3 sacks, 8 hits, 8 tackles for loss in 15 games
  • Gregory Rousseau: 17 sacks, 42 hits, 30 TFL in 46 games
  • Odafe Oweh: 13 sacks, 38 hits, 16 TFL in 45 games
  • Joe Tryon-Shoyinka: 13 sacks, 31 hits, 18 TFL in 51 games

Of that group, only Turner and Tryon-Shoyinka did not have their options picked up for 2025, which goes to show how each team feels about those players. There’s still time for Turner to change the narrative surrounding his career, but that time is running out.

Injuries and inconsistent play have been the story of his career so far. Last season it was just bad luck — Turner enjoyed the best summer of his career and didn’t miss a single practice during training camp, only to go down with a serious turf toe injury early in the season opener. He underwent surgery and didn’t return until the regular season finale. With everyone on last year’s depth chart returning and Chase Young added to the mix, Turner needs to step up and earn his roster spot. There’s a real possibility he gets let go during cuts in September.

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