Saints free agent OL Andrus Peat visiting Titans on Monday

New Orleans Saints free agent Andrus Peat is visiting the Tennessee Titans on Monday. The veteran offensive lineman could be in high demand:

New Orleans Saints free agent Andrus Peat is visiting the Tennessee Titans on Monday, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. The veteran offensive lineman could be in high demand after playing well at left tackle in 2023, having spent most of his NFL career at left guard.

If Peat is signed away by another team, the Saints will not receive a compensatory pick in the 2025 NFL draft. That’s because he agreed to a reworked contract last summer which cost him a pay cut, with the Saints agreeing to tear up the last year of his deal, allowing him to reach free agency ahead of schedule.

That’s a tough break seeing as the Saints are forfeiting $13,638,000 in dead money after past restructures with Peat. That’s how much salary cap space they’ll be without if he’s playing elsewhere, without the promise of a comp pick coming back in next year’s draft.

But it might be necessary. Peat has struggled with injuries throughout his career, being limited to 111 of 147 possible games in the regular season. The Saints overpaid him relative to performance and have had to work around his contract for a while, so this dead money cap hit isn’t anything new. If this is it for Peat in New Orleans, he’ll be off the books altogether in 2025. And if he’s leaving the Saints need to invest in a quality insurance policy should Trevor Penning continue to struggle at left tackle.

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Zack Baun says goodbye to Saints fans after ‘unforgettable’ 4 years in New Orleans

Zack Baun said goodbye to Saints fans after an “unforgettable” four years in New Orleans. His departure marks another big swing-and-a-miss:

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Zack Baun was one of the first losses the New Orleans Saints took in free agency, but their former linebacker didn’t waste any time in thanking the city for supporting him during the first four years of his career.

The Saints traded up to get Baun in the 2020 draft, sending their 2021 third-round pick to move up from No. 88 to 74 where they could pick him. New Orleans also got back a seventh-round pick at No. 244 which they traded the next day to go get tight end Adam Trautman.

But the plan for Baun was questionable from the start. His position coach Michael Hodges explained that the Saints planned on converting Baun from the pass-rush role he played at Wisconsin to more of a traditional off-ball coverage role that he hadn’t played before. He struggled so badly playing out of position that they drafted two more linebackers in the next two draft classes (Pete Werner and D’Marco Jackson) before relenting in 2023. When Baun was finally allowed to get after the quarterback, he generated 11 pressures (with a couple of sacks) in the final six games.

Now he’ll be doing that for another team. The Eagles are actively revamping their own pass-rush unit and Baun figures to get more looks in that role than he found in New Orleans, which would explain why he left so quickly. Still, his time with the Saints was a great learning experience, and he’s eager to embrace a new challenge in a new city. Good luck to him. The Eagles will be visiting the Saints for a home game in 2024, so we’ll see what he can do firsthand.

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Andrus Peat didn’t re-sign with Saints before deadline, costing $13M in dead money

Andrus Peat didn’t re-sign with the Saints before Wednesday’s deadline, costing the team more than $13M in dead money. He’s now a free agent:

Andrus Peat might be playing for a team besides the New Orleans Saints in 2024, ending his nine-year run with the team that drafted him. The Saints were unable to come to an agreement on a contract extension with Peat prior to Wednesday’s deadline, which means they’re paying $13,638,000 in dead money for him to at least explore the market before making a decision.

One silver lining: this won’t impact the team’s salary cap situation or their projected cap space figure (more than $15 million). Peat’s cap hit was already factored into those calculations. It could have been reduced with an extension, but it won’t climb higher in his absence now that his contract has  voided. He also won’t count into the compensatory picks formula in the 2025 NFL draft.

Peat was on the outs with the Saints this time last year. He was forced to accept a pay cut in the spring and demoted to the third-string offensive line over the summer. When the team was shorthanded and frustrated with Trevor Penning’s too-slow improvement at left tackle, they moved Peat back to his college position for the first time in years.

And he thrived there, only allowing two sacks on more than 400 snaps inn pass protection. Now he’s 30 and facing his last great opportunity to cash in on a lucrative NFL contract. The Saints could have extended Peat sooner to avoid paying out that $13.6 million left over from past restructures, but he likely wanted to test the market before agreeing to a new deal.

It’s still possible Peat may return to close out his career with New Orleans. A new contract with the Saints wouldn’t impact that dead money charge against the salary cap but it would insure the team is getting something for paying him anyway. 30-and-over starters with Peat’s versatility as an inside-out lineman who can play both guard and tackle aren’t being paid as much as their younger peers, but there are enough offensive lines in poor shape around the league to where he should receive some offers as a free agent.

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Report: Browns closing in on deal with Jameis Winston

Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz says the Cleveland Browns are closing in on a deal with Jameis Winston:

Jameis Winston is closing in on a free agent contract with the Cleveland Browns, per Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz, which would shut the door on his time with the New Orleans Saints. Winston had previously said he hoped to find a team where he could compete for a starting job, but instead he’ll be backing up Deshaun Watson if this deal goes through.

It makes sense when you look at the money: a maximum value of $8.7 million, Schultz says, which is more than twice what Winston received from the Saints last year. Fine money for a backup, and he had his choice of options after other teams expressed interest in his services.

And this might be a better opportunity than it first appears. Watson missed most of the 2023 season recovering from an injured throwing shoulder, and if durability continues to be a problem for him then Winston could get on the field for Cleveland in 2024.

Of course we aren’t crossing the finish line just yet. Deals may be agreed to right now but they can’t be signed until after Wednesday’s 3 p.m. CT deadline. The Jacksonville Jaguars learned that the hard way when former Saints kicker Wil Lutz backed out of an agreement to stay with the Denver Broncos. But it sure looks like Winston will be out of New Orleans very soon.

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Lions may be out of pursuit for Marshon Lattimore

The Detroit Lions may be out on Marshon Lattimore. They’ve agreed to trade for another No. 1 corner from one of the Saints’ division rivals:

On the first day of the legal tampering window, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers agreed to a trade with the Detroit Lions sending cornerback Carlton Davis and a couple of late-round draft picks to Detroit in exchange for a third-round pick. The addition of Davis as Detroit’s new number-one cornerback might take them out of the running for New Orleans Saints corner Marshon Lattimore, who has been the subject of trade chatter this offseason.

It was noted prior to free agency that Detroit would be aggressively pursuing the cornerback market this offseason. With the ties that Lions’ head coach Dan Campbell and his fellow defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn have with the Saints, it seemed as though Detroit would be a very likely landing spot for Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore if the team does decide to move on from him.

With the Lions acquiring Davis, this just about concludes the possibility of Lattimore being shipped out to Detroit. However, what makes one wonder is the fact that the Lions didn’t have a second-round pick for flexibility to help facilitate a trade for Lattimore. Giving up a first rounder may have been too rich knowing that they wouldn’t have been picking until the late in the third round this year, but who knows.

The benefit for Saints fans is that one of the top corners in their division is out of the door and they will no longer have to worry about competing against him. And if this development helps keep Lattimore in New Orleans, well: that would be a welcome bonus.

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Marcus Davenport to reunite with his old coaches on the Lions

Marcus Davenport is planning to reunite with some of his old coaches on the Lions. It’s a Saints reunion in Detroit:

A former New Orleans Saints draft pick is headed to the Detroit Lions as Marcus Davenport agreed to a one-year deal to reunite with some of his old coaches, per Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network.

Davenport started his career in New Orleans as a first-round draft pick in 2018. He spent five seasons and accumulated 21.5 sacks. He was never able to stay healthy for a full season in New Orleans and production was lacking so the two sides decided to part ways after 2022. He signed with the Minnesota Vikings for 2023, but appeared in just four games due to injury finished with two sacks.

Now, he heads to Detroit on another prove-it deal. He’ll be back with Aaron Glenn and Dan Campbell in a new environment as he tries to get his career back on track.

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Wil Lutz’s stay with the Denver Broncos ends sooner than expected

Wil Lutz’s stay with the Denver Broncos is ending sooner than expected. He’s expected to sign a multiyear contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars:

So much for that: former New Orleans Saints kicker Wil Lutz is ending his run with the Denver Broncos sooner than fans may have thought. He’s expected to sign a three-year contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars when the new league year opens on March 13, again splitting ways with his longtime coach Sean Payton.

Lutz connected on 30 of his 34 field goals (88.2%) for Denver after being traded away from the Saints, once Payton’s successor Dennis Allen determined that rookie kicker Blake Grupe was a better option. Lutz’s longest successful field goal traveled 52 yards while he missed from longer distances of 57 and 55 yards; his average try was 34.97 yards.

Compare that to Grupe, who hit 30 of his 37 attempts (81.1%) in New Orleans from an average distance of 39.16 yards. Grupe’s longest make traveled 55 yards, but he went 1-for-2 on kicks from 54 yards. Grupe also hit all 40 of his extra point tries while Lutz missed twice on 31 attempts.

So what did the Broncos give up for 17 games with Lutz? A seventh-round pick in the 2024 draft, falling at No. 239 overall. Depending on how active they are in free agency Denver could get a compensatory pick back in 2025, but Payton has bigger problems to worry about after kicking off an extensive rebuild — which Lutz won’t be a part of.

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Panthers cutting former Saints safety Vonn Bell

The new Panthers GM is cutting many of his predecessor’s free agent signings, including former Saints safety Vonn Bell. Would a reunion make sense?

The Carolina Panthers are releasing veteran safety Vonn Bell, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, who they just signed a year ago. Depending on whether or not the Panthers are designating Bell a post-June 1 cut, they’ll be paying $7.9 million to $9.8 million in dead money while Bell is playing elsewhere.

Could he return to the New Orleans Saints? Bell, who turned 29 in December, has developed into a well-rounded safety with better ball skills than he showed in his four years with the Saints. After intercepting just one pass (and breaking up 14 others) in his first 61 games, all in New Orleans, Bell has picked off opposing quarterbacks 6 times with 23 pass deflections in his last 61 games, all starts for the Panthers and Cincinnati Bengals.

Bell clearly knows the system Dennis Allen is running very well. He just had the misfortune of being stuck in Carolina during the middle of a regime change with new general manager Dan Morgan torching many of the contracts his predecessor handed out, including Bell’s. The Saints have to be looking for a replacement at free safety after deciding to release Marcus Maye, or at least competition for second-year pro Jordan Howden. Bell would fit the bill.

So this is something to watch in the days ahead. Bell is several years younger than Malcolm Jenkins was when he reunited with the Saints after a successful run on the Philadelphia Eagles, and he may still have something left in the tank. We’ll see if any interest materializes.

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Former Saints OL coach Doug Marrone has a new college coaching job

Former Saints offensive line coach Doug Marrone has a new job working under Bill O’Brien at Boston College:

It didn’t take too long for Doug Marrone to land on his feet — he’s returned to the college level after being hired by Boston College as their new senior analyst, where he’ll work under head coach Bill O’Brien, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. He’ll be focusing on football strategy and research.

Marrone was let go along with most of the New Orleans Saints’ offensive coaching staff in February. Before he arrived for his second stint with the team (he was also Sean Payton’s offensive coordinator back in 2006), Marrone worked at Alabama and Syracuse in-between other stops in the NFL, so he knows the college game well. He and O’Brien coached together at Alabama in 2021.

He isn’t the only former Saints offensive line coach working at the collegiate level. Dan Roushar held the position for a long time and is still in New Orleans coaching at Tulane. Their predecessor Bret Ingalls is a coach at Michigan. The Saints’ current offensive line has fallen on hard times, but it’s always been a well-coached unit respected around the league. Hopefully incoming coaches John Benton, Rick Dennison, and Klint Kubiak can get it back on track.

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Drew Brees announces scholarship in honor of retiring Eagles center Jason Kelce

Drew Brees announced a scholarship in honor of retiring Eagles center Jason Kelce aimed at supporting walk-on college athletes:

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Drew Brees continues to do great deeds off the field. The former New Orleans Saints great has announced a scholarship honoring Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, who started his college career as a walk-on at Cincinnati. Kelce announced his retirement last week after 13 seasons.

Brees shared the big news on social media, saying the scholarship will be awarded to 13 walk-on collegiate athletes. These scholarships will be given out on behalf of Walk-On’s Bistreaux, a restaurant chain of which Brees is the co-owner.

“These scholarships represent more than just financial aid. They’re a salute to the relentless spirit and unwavering dedication that drives athletes to excel, mirroring the qualities that Jason Kelce showcased throughout his career,” Brees said during his announcement.

Kelce steps away from the game as one of the most decorated offensive linemen of his generation. He earned seven Pro Bowl nominations, six first-team All-Pro selections and a Super Bowl championship. To say the least, a very accomplished career for the former walk-on.

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