Tag: candidates

Predicting 24 Saints players who will be cut or traded ahead of Tuesday’s deadline

Predicting 25 Saints players who will be moved ahead of Tuesday’s deadline: Roster cuts and trade candidates

The New Orleans Saints brought their preseason to a close in Sunday night’s 17-13 loss to the visiting Houston Texans, but the real work begins ahead of Tuesday’s roster cuts deadline (3 p.m. CT). The Saints must reduce their roster down from 89 players to just 53.

It’s a tough process. For many guys this is the end of the road for them in the NFL. Some will have offers to return to the Saints practice squad, and a few will have opportunities on other teams, but a lot of young men have already worn a helmet with a fleur-de-lis on the side of it for the last time.

We’ve already made our best guess at who makes the cut in our final 53-man roster projection, also highlighting some of the toughest cuts along the way. Here are our predictions for 24 players that will either be released or traded before Tuesday’s deadline:

4 New Orleans Saints trade candidates ahead of 2023 roster cuts

With roster cuts swiftly approaching, other teams may come calling. 4 New Orleans Saints trade candidates who could be moved | @southexclusives

With roster cuts swiftly approaching, it’s only a matter of time until teams come calling to see if they can get the New Orleans Saints to trade away some players on the roster bubble — and even those who are seemingly positioned to make the team. If the offer is compelling enough, the Saints could choose to lean on their depth at some position groups and part ways with talented players to recoup some value through draft picks or player swaps. It’s happened before.

But who could be on the move? More likely is that other teams may be interested in snatching up a player before the Saints waive them, avoiding the anxious wait-and-see process as waiver claims are processed around the league. With that said, some speculation is already linking a Saints veteran or two to other teams around the league. Let’s explore the four highest-profile Saints trade candidates before the preseason wraps up:

6 offensive linemen Saints could target in trades after Trai Turner injury

Offensive line depth is important to the Saints. Here are six options who could be available for trades after Friday’s Trai Turner injury:

Offensive line depth is important to the New Orleans Saints, who took quick action to replace backup guard Billy Price with former Pro Bowler Trai Turner when Price failed his physical. But now they need to replace Turner after he went down with a season-ending injury at Friday’s training camp practice.

It’s more likely that the Saints will look to sign another free agent to compete for the backup job, but here are six options who could be available for trades. Fans would like to think that other teams are willing to give up All-Pro talents for peanuts, but keep in mind that anyone available at this time of the year is likely already on the way out with their current team. Beggars (like the Saints) can’t exactly be choosers.

5 Packers who could be first-time Pro Bowlers in 2023

Which Packers could make their first Pro Bowl in 2023? Let’s run down the top candidates.

The Green Bay Packers are going into the 2023 season having four players on the roster with prior Pro Bowl nods: offensive tackle David Bakhtiari, cornerback Jaire Alexander, running back Aaron Jones  and offensive guard Elgton Jenkins.

Will a teammate join them as Pro Bowlers this season?

Here are the Packers’ best candidates to be a first-time Pro Bowler in 2023:

 

4 Saints players who could be traded before Week 1

With a logjam developing at corner, it could make sense for the Saints to explore trading Bradley Roby or Paulson Adebo before Week 1. Teams may call on other players, too:

The NFL offseason is relentless. Free agency’s biggest moves are behind us. So is the 2023 NFL draft. A new wave of veteran signings and tryouts at minicamps is spreading around the league, and it’s a safe bet that more changes are in store for the New Orleans Saints. Normally buyers, could they instead be sellers as the trade market begins to develop? Which players could be on the move for greener pastures before Week 1 in September?

It’s not as easy as saying the Saints should trade (insert underperforming player of the moment here); fans may be unhappy with someone like, say, Tre’Quan Smith or Payton Turner, but there needs to be a reason for another team to have interest in acquiring the player. If a guy is a regular source of negative plays in New Orleans, why would a competitor want to trade for him?

Something else to consider is that the trade value for veteran players (especially those without a lot of strong game tape) tends to be weak. Take that with the minimal salary cap savings involved and the Saints are probably better off holding onto any trade candidates other teams are sniffing around.

With that in mind, here are four names we’ll be watching closely over the summer as position battles take shape:

Jameis Winston listed as a Saints salary cap cuts candidate

Jameis Winston was listed as a salary cap cuts candidate at Pro Football Focus. He didn’t get a fair shake with the Saints, but a split feels inevitable:

It sure feels like the bridge between Jameis Winston and the New Orleans Saints is all but burnt, so it isn’t too surprising to see him listed as a possible salary cap cuts candidate. Things haven’t gone as planned when he re-signed with New Orleans a year ago, and with free agency on the horizon, it appears the team is going to go in another direction.

Here’s a take on Winston’s status with the Saints from Pro Football Focus analyst Brad Spielberger, who writes:

“Winston lost his job to Andy Dalton — which he was understandably not happy about — and the Saints hosted Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr on a visit already as they look ahead to 2023. The writing is on the wall here for Winston, who had five interceptions and three fumbles (one lost) in just three starts in 2022.”

Winston didn’t get a fair shake with the Saints. He was allowed to play through a serious back injury and then asked to sit through an intercontinental flight, only to be benched for the rest of the season after clearing the injury report while Andy Dalton struggled to string scoring drives together in his stead. It falls on head coach Dennis Allen to manage situations like this better, and in this case he came up short.

And the team is going to pay for it by forfeiting as much as $11.2 million in dead money once Winston is released, though they’ll come out ahead with $4.4 million in savings. In an ideal world cutting Winston would not even be considered, but that’s not where we are. Between his erratic play and unfortunate series of recent injuries, the Saints are looking elsewhere to find a starting quarterback in 2023.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

[stnvideo key=”z6G2kBXopV-2549625-7618″ type=”float”]

3 former Saints among first-year eligible candidates for Hall of Fame in 2024

The list of first-year eligible candidates for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2024 includes 3 former New Orleans Saints players:

Three former New Orleans Saints players are on the list of potential candidates for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2024, including Super Bowl XLIV champion Jermon Bushrod. He’s joined by former Saints center Max Unger and running back Chris Ivory as players who will become eligible for induction next year.

Bushrod started 132 of the 153 games he played in the NFL, including the playoffs, predominately with the Saints (72 starts in 85 games) at left tackle. He was selected for the Pro Bowl in 2011 and 2012 with New Orleans before spending the second leg with the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins, returning to the Saints to close out his career in 2018.

Unger joined the Saints in a 2015 trade with the Seattle Seahawks and rarely missed a snap, starting all 67 games he played for New Orleans (including the postseason) and winning Pro Bowl recognition in 2018, his last year in the NFL. He totaled 142 games in the league between his time with the Saints and Seahawks, including the playoffs, earning three Pro Bowl nods and winning a Super Bowl title in 2013.

Ivory had the briefest Saints career of the bunch, only appearing in 26 games from 2010 to 2012 after being signed as an undrafted free agent by way of Washington State and Tiffin University in Ohio. But he made a quick impression with his powerful running style and big-play ability, which won him a nice contract extension with the New York Jets after being traded in 2013 (where he made the Pro Bowl a few years later). Ivory closed out his career with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills.

To be frank, all three of these players are long-shots, and they probably won’t make it past the first rounds of discussion. A more realistic candidate is former Saints right guard Jahri Evans who was discussed as a semifinalist in this year’s cycle, and he’ll be in the mix again for the Class of 2023. His resume as a six-time Pro Bowler and four appearances on the All-Pro first team offense speaks for itself. We’ll see if Evans or any of Drew Brees’ former teammates get into the Hall of Fame before No. 9’s own candidacy is brought up in 2026.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

[stnvideo key=”7l2XTLfZLO-2543472-7618″ type=”float”]

6 Saints most likely to restructure their contracts in 2023

Restructures shouldn’t be as big a part of the Saints’ salary cap strategy moving forward, but these 6 players are candidates to redo their deals and get under the cap:

The New Orleans Saints are over the most optimistic 2023 salary cap projections by tens of millions of dollars, but their approach to getting under the cap should be more typical of what we see around the league. General manager Mickey Loomis and football administration vice president Khai Harley have both expressed a desire to manage their cap commitments less aggressively than when Sean Payton was leading the organization as head coach, which makes sense.

You can’t push all of your chips in forever. You lose depth and put a ton of pressure on your rookies to contribute right away. Your margin for error is razor-thin. If a couple of signings or draft picks don’t meet expectations, and if you don’t have a Hall of Fame quarterback and/or coach to pick up the slack, well: you go 7-10 and get left on the outside looking in during the playoffs.

Now with that said: contract restructures will always be a part of how the Saints work around the cap. It’s a common tool around the league. Now, we may not see the Saints routinely restructuring deals with nine or ten players each spring, but four or five smart reworkings should be expected. And here are six possible restructure candidates to watch out for in the weeks ahead:

12 head coach candidates Saints should consider in 2023

After spurning head coach candidates like Eric Bieniemy and Brian Flores, the Saints have fewer options if they move on from Dennis Allen in 2023. Keep an eye on these names:

They haven’t done anything to suggest change is coming, but it almost feels inevitable that the New Orleans Saints will have to dismiss Dennis Allen. He inherited a 9-win team and turned it into one of the least-aggressive and poorly-coached squads around the league, prone to more procedural fouls and pre-snap penalties than many of their peers. Whether the Saints want to admit it or not, this story ends with showing him the door. If they’re smart they’ll cut their losses sooner rather than later.

No one set higher expectations for the Saints this year than the team themselves, billing this season as a return to form with playoff aspirations. Instead they hemorrhaged star talent during the offseason, losing players like Marcus Williams, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, and Terron Armstead while getting next to no compensation and subpar replacements. They tried to maintain continuity from Sean Payton’s success and instead just look like a poor imitation.

And it all starts and ends with Allen. This team was built in his vision and with his priorities in mind. That clearly wasn’t the right direction to go. So if the Saints do make a move from Allen at the end of the 2022 season, which head coach candidates stand out best in 2023?

Tabbing another in-house promotion wouldn’t make sense. That’s what got the Saints in this mess in the first place. Shuffling the staff and putting someone like Doug Marrone, Darren Rizzi, or Kris Richard on top isn’t the move. We also should assume that candidates the team met with and passed over last year won’t be interested in a second round of interviews — why should they give the Saints another chance? It takes good coaches like Brian Flores, Aaron Glenn, and Eric Bieniemy off the table, but that’s what the Saints get for not hiring them when they had the chance. Still, maybe one of them ends up viewing this as their best opportunity to lead an NFL team and circles back anyway.

Up-and-coming offensive coordinators are all the rage these days, and a couple of them are already building buzz ahead of the next NFL hiring cycle. Philadelphia Eagles O.C. Shane Steichen has a lot of fans, as does his Detroit Lions counterpart Ben Johnson. But more-experienced coaches like Frank Smith (in his 16th year in the NFL, now with the Miami Dolphins) are also out there. San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans is highly regarded and figures to have his pick of job offers, though he may look for a better situation than what New Orleans has to offer.

What about a curve ball? Michigan Wolverines firebrand Jim Harbaugh is reportedly being monitored by NFL teams on the lookout for their next head coach, and he’s exactly the sort of program-builder the Saints need in the wake of Payton’s abdication. And what about Sean Payton himself? All speculation has centered on where he’ll go after quitting on them, but it’s possible they try and talk him into sticking around after his one-year sabbatical. That would destroy the front office and ownership’s credibility and remove any and all illusions that this isn’t Payton’s team (with or without him), but we can’t rule it out. Crazier things have happened, but it doesn’t get much crazier than that.

That’s enough chatter. Let’s break down the list:

Jahri Evans is a first-ballot semifinalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2023

Legendary Saints right guard Jahri Evans is one of five first-ballot semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2023:

Now this is cool. Jahri Evans left his mark on pro football in 11 years at right guard for the New Orleans Saints, and his accomplishments have earned him recognition as one of five first-ballot semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2023. He’ll advance to the next stage of voting on finalists in December, with the Class of 2023 announced in February.

And it’s a star-studded group. Evans is joined by iconic pros like former left tackle Joe Thomas, cornerback Darrelle Revis, defensive lineman Dwight Freeney, and linebacker James Harrison as semifinalists who got this far in their first year of eligibility. The other 23 semifinalists have made it to this stage before, and many of them will ultimately make the cut.

Evans has a strong shot at going the distance after earning six consecutive Pro Bowl nods in his playing career, as well as four straight appearances on the Associated Press All-Pro first team list from 2009 to 2012. If his bid is successful, he’ll have become the first player from the Saints’ Super Bowl XLIV-winning squad to be selected for the Hall of Fame. With his old quarterback Drew Brees a sure thing to get in once he’s eligible in 2026, the Saints contingent enshrined in Canton looks to grow in the years ahead.

[listicle id=109486]