Saints’ Kwon Alexander trade earns high grade from NFL Network’s Cynthia Frelund

The New Orleans Saints received a very positive grade for acquiring San Francisco 49ers linebacker Kwon Alexander at the NFL trade deadline.

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How would you grade the New Orleans Saints’ trade deadline pickup? The Saints shipped out backup linebacker Kiko Alonso and a conditional fifth-round draft pick for San Francisco 49ers linebacker Kwon Alexander in a bid to improve their inconsistent-at-best defense.

NFL Network’s Cynthia Frelund is a fan of the move to acquire Alexander, citing the Saints’ vulnerabilities in defending the middle of the field. While Frelund did take time to temper expectations due to Alexander’s injury history, she still graded the trade with a B+ for New Orleans. Here’s some of what she wrote to explain that praise:

“The middle of New Orleans’ defense has been an area of weakness this season, especially at critical times. On third down, the Saints have allowed the second-most yards per play (7.0) and fourth-highest passer rating (74.4). For New Orleans, first downs yielded on passes to the middle of the field — where Alexander will roam — are up about three per game from the first eight weeks of last season (18 in 2020, 15.2 in 2019). Alexander hasn’t played since Week 5 due to an ankle injury; however, PFF still credits him with 10 defensive stops — only one fewer than Saints star Demario Davis. Trading Alexander for Alonso actually nets the Saints a small cap gain for the season.”

Frelund spoke about her background in analytics and how she applies those skills to NFL analysis with the Saints Twitter Podcast, also sharing some of her takes on the team earlier this season:

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