This could be an interesting pickup. NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill reports that the New Orleans Saints are hosting cornerback Avonte Maddox on a free agent visit; the Philadelphia Eagles recently released him to save salary cap resources after a string of injuries limited his availability in recent years.
Still, he’s just turning 28 in March, and he’s been one of the game’s better defenders in the slot when healthy. Maddox has logged more than 1,735 snaps in the slot through his six-year NFL career. He’d be a big upgrade over Alontae Taylor in that role.
Taylor struggled last year when he split time in training camp learning a new position while actively competing with Paulson Adebo to start outside. He had never played at the nickel before in either college or the NFL, and no player was targeted more often than him in the slot as teams keyed in on that vulnerability.
It remains to be seen whether Maddox would be starting ahead of Taylor or competing with him for the job, but he’d be a good pickup for the Saints either way. Having a veteran who is so experienced in that role next to him in the film room would be great for Taylor’s development. And because Maddox was released by the Eagles, he will not count into the compensatory picks formula for the 2025 NFL draft, and the Saints don’t need to wait until the start of the new league year on Wednesday to sign him..
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