Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
4 Saints who could be on the move ahead of NFL trade deadline, via @john_siglerr, @DillySanders, and @RossJacksonNOLA:
Will the New Orleans Saints be players at the NFL trade deadline? Historically speaking they’ve been buyers rather than sellers, but they’re in a position to make some moves with long-term ramifications after a 3-5 start to the season. And no, that doesn’t include Alvin Kamara.
With that in mind, here are four Saints trade candidates as the Nov. 1 trade deadline inches closer:
The Saints lack for trade candidates approaching the NFL deadline. Fans may be calling for a fire sale, but making premature moves would only hurt the team further:
Check any New Orleans Saints community online and you’ll find fans calling for wholesale changes to the black and gold. There are people upset in the Facebook comments, the Saints subreddit, super forums, message boards, and Twitter groups all around — and more than a few want the Saints to tear it all down and start over, trading whoever they can to get draft picks and, they think, much-needed salary cap relief.
But because the Saints have so many players playing on restructured contracts, most of their roster is already on the NFL minimum salary. That makes offloading them easier because an acquiring team is only on the hook for their remaining base salary (unless they agree to take on other payments during negotiations) but it also minimizes the salary cap savings New Orleans would recoup by moving players.
To illustrate that point, here are the most expensive remaining salaries on the books for 2022:
No other player would cost an acquiring team to pay more than $1 million in their base salary the rest of the season. But it’s more complicated than that. The new team would take on the rest of that contract and future payouts for base salary, roster bonuses, workout bonuses, and so on (though the Saints will still have any prorated bonuses counting against their own salary cap as dead money).
So while the Saints could theoretically trade, say, Michael Thomas to a new team (with his new squad paying him only $632,500 for 2022), that team would have to pay his $15.5 million base salary in 2023, and the Saints would still be counting more than $25 million against the cap due to previous restructures and his signing bonus. That could be negotiated down by consolidating various bonuses into salary and asking the new team to pay them instead, but the counterbalance to that kind of maneuver would be less-valuable trade compensation. The Saints would be approaching it from a position of weaker leverage. Over The Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald laid out all of their 2023 options in greater detail, but the point is that the Saints aren’t in a position to kickstart the rebuild with many moves at the 2022 deadline.
All of this has been said to say that a fire sale isn’t coming for New Orleans — at least not a productive one. If the Saints do tear everything down to the foundation to start a rebuild, it won’t do much to improve their salary cap outlook nor their stockpile of draft assets. All it really accomplishes is further eroding their roster.
But maybe it gets to a point where changes are necessary. There could be a point of no return where you wave the white flag and just offload whoever you can for whatever you can get back. That feels unlikely with Mickey Loomis still on top of the orgchart as the NFL’s longest-tenured general manager. He and the Saints told everyone who would listen that this team was ready to compete, and that Allen was stepping into a perfect situation. Changes on the coaching staff feel more realistic than roster turnover. In the end, though, I think the Saints are going to ask for patience from fans and try to spin this all on injuries derailing their season early on. They’ll do what they can to keep their core together another year or two before making any big moves.
But, hey, maybe they get started now. If that’s the case, here are some trade candidates who could be on the move by the Nov. 2 NFL trade deadline:
Ahead of the NFL trade deadline, here are some players who could be on the move, including Chase Claypool, Melvin Gordon and Elijah Moore:
The NFL’s trade deadline is fast approaching, and there have already been some players on the move. That includes the Carolina Panthers recently dealing running back Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers and receiver Robbie Anderson to the Arizona Cardinals.
There are a number of contending teams that could be looking to shore up an area of weakness as they aim to make a postseason run. Not to mention, there are a number of struggling teams looking to sell some big-name players to acquire additional draft capital.
Ahead of the Nov. 1 deadline, let’s look at some other players who might be on the move, with one from every NFL team, as assembled by our NFL Wires staff.
The window for using the franchise tag opens in the NFL on Tuesday. Here are the top candidates, including Packers WR Davante Adams and Patriots CB J.C. Jackson.
The NFL’s window for using the franchise tag opens on Tuesday and runs through March 8. Not every team will use the tag, but several teams have a legitimate candidate entering the window.
Teams can use the franchise tag or transition tag on any player with an expiring contract. It’s a one-year contracted tender and a tool for teams to keep a key player out of unrestricted free agency.
Last year, nine players received the tag.
Here are the NFL’s top franchise tag candidates in 2022:
There’s been too much chatter about the Saints cutting half their team to get under the cap. When you look at their books, you’ll find little savings from outright releases:
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Look around online and you’ll see so, so much hand-wringing about how the New Orleans Saints are going to keep their team together. There are so many terrible takes on social media suggesting the Saints are going to have to cut half their team just to get under the salary cap. And it’s all malarkey. Maybe even baloney. It’s nonsense.
The Saints structure the vast majority of their contracts with players so that they can restructure salaries and bonuses at will, converting those payouts into signing bonuses which can be paid off in subsequent seasons. Sure, they could cut a bunch of starters to reach cap compliance — but it’s worth more to the Saints to restructure those contracts, saving cap space and keeping their core players. The financial benefits don’t justify cutting their best players, especially if the team won’t see those benefits until it’s too late to matter.
We’ve discussed this topic to exhaustion, but it’s worth considering whether the Saints actually do have any cap cut candidates to discuss. It’s possible that they decide to just let some guys go rather than restructure new deals with them.
To that end, here is the list of players the Saints can release before June 1 and save more than $2 million (we’re using that figure as our standard because it’s what the Saints saved in releasing Emmanuel Sanders last year, and also because anything less is negligible). Remember, the team must reach salary cap compliance by March 16, meaning these options present the highest possible savings available right now:
Of this group, all but four played 400 or more combined snaps on offense, defense, and special teams last year: Roby (399), Kpassagnon (252), Ingram (236), and Thomas (0). Roby nearly got over the bar but he was in and out of the lineup with rookie draft pick Paulson Adebo playing at a high level. Kpassagnon was limited by injuries, as was Ingram, who joined the team in a midseason trade. Thomas of course missed the entire season recovering from surgery. So that leaves Roby, Kpassagnon, and Ingram as what we can call part-time players.
Something is going to happen with Roby’s contract, whether it’s an outright release, restructure, or maybe a trade to another team. The Saints can save that $9.4 million with an immediate release or trade, or get back a full $10 million by designating him a post-June 1 cut, but they won’t get that money until late this summer — when it won’t do much good after free agency has quieted down. If they want to hold onto Roby instead, a restructure saves up to $6.6 million while a true contract extension recoups $7.1 million.
As for Kpassagnon and Ingram: there are arguments in favor of moving on from them. The Saints are looking short on snaps to go around at defensive end between Cameron Jordan, Marcus Davenport, 2021 first round pick Payton Turner, and restricted free agent Carl Granderson. If they re-sign Granderson and retain Kpassagnon, someone is likely inactive on gamedays.
And in Ingram’s case, a $2.3 million salary cap hit may be too much for a 32-year-old backup running back. Well, on its surface, anyway. If Alvin Kamara is going to miss time to a suspension stemming from his arrest in Las Vegas, maybe the Saints should hold onto Ingram. Either way, they need to take a hard look at that part of the depth chart and consider upgrading from backups Tony Jones Jr., Josh Adams, and Dwayne Washington, an unrestricted free agent.
What about other post-June 1 cuts? Teams are allowed to designate two contracts as early releases while still getting the benefits of a later cut, but they still must defer the cap relief until June 2. If you’re curious, here are the players the Saints could tab as a post-June 1 release and (eventually) save more than $2 million. And remember, they won’t see any of this money until after the cap compliance deadline and free agency’s biggest moves:
In applying the same standard for identifying part-time players (those with fewer than 400 total snaps played last season), our list is now: Thomas (0 snaps), Roby (399), Lutz (0), Kpassagnon (252), and Ingram (236). So if the Saints are looking to part ways with Thomas — which really doesn’t appear to be the case, given the latest reports — the best way for them to accomplish that is designating him a post-June 1 cut. Unless you’d rather explore a trade after that date, anyway. But it sure seems Thomas is staying in New Orleans this year.
And Lutz is our only new addition, having also missed the season while recovering from an injury. Maybe the Saints need that $3.65 million after free agency and after the draft and decide it’s time to reset the kicker situation. I don’t buy that, though, given how terrible their experience on the kicker carousel was last year. Moving on from a Pro Bowl player now doesn’t do anything to help them.
That’s the problem with that post-June 1 designation. It doesn’t help teams who need to get under the salary cap before the March 16 deadline. All of the benefits in using it are deferred until later in the summer, after all of the top free agents have been signed and after the draft in April. It’s useful in creating room to work out extensions with players already on the roster, but if you’re the Saints you’re more worried about new additions you can make in March than who you can sign long-term in June.
And, again: why take that approach if you’re the Saints? Sure you can cut the two biggest contracts and get back $30.8 million in June, but you’ll be without maybe your best players on both defense and offense. If you can redo contracts with Thomas and Jordan to save cap space right now, before free agency kicks off in March, and ensure they’ll be around as cornerstones of the team moving forwards, you take that path seven days a week.
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Two of the most important jobs are still open on Dennis Allen’s coaching staff: offensive and defensive coordinator. Keep up with our interview tracker:
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Two of the most important jobs are still available on Dennis Allen’s New Orleans Saints coaching staff: offensive and defensive coordinator. While there are options already in the building, the Saints have started their search by evaluating outsiders.
You can keep up with our Saints interview tracker. Here is every candidate to interview with New Orleans about the jobs, organized chronologically:
Brentson Buckner was a longtime NFL player and has been a defensive line coach in the league since 2013
New Jacksonville head coach Doug Pederson has already added a defensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, and it looks like he may be closing in on a defensive line coach hire, as well. According to a report from Pro Football Network’s Aaron Wilson, the Jaguars plan to hire Brentson Buckner to fill the vacant role which was held by current Oregon Ducks defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi in 2021.
Buckner is a longtime former player, registering 12 seasons in the league before beginning his coaching career. He has spent the last two seasons as the defensive line coach for the Arizona Cardinals and previously held the same position in Oakland, Tampa Bay, and in a previous stint with Arizona from 2013-17.
Wilson reported earlier that the Jaguars were also considering Phillip Daniels for the position. Daniels worked with Pederson in Philadelphia and was previously an executive in Washington but has been out of coaching since 2019.
This hire makes a lot of sense for Jacksonville, as Buckner is a well-traveled defensive line coach and is well regarded around the league. He could soon find himself as a coordinator candidate, but for now, the Jaguars seem to have landed a stud for the defensive coaching staff.
Five potential OC candidates.
Brian Kelly has plenty of work to be done now that both Marcus Freeman and Tommy Rees are staying with Notre Dame.
There were some reports, we even reported on, that Corey Raymond and Kevin Faulk were expected to be retained on the LSU staff. However, when he addressed the media Kelly stated that wasn’t the case.
“I have not made any decisions based upon who will stay and who may go,” Kelly said on Wednesday. “I haven’t had any individual conversations with any of them, so any narrative out there is not coming from any conversations that I’ve had with them. They are well-respected and I will get an opportunity to vet out all of those coaches. They’ve done a great job.
I know the business, they know the business. There are realities in this business. But we’ll get to all of those coaches because as I mentioned earlier, they have families, they have lives, and we have to get moving in that direction.”
For now we will look at potential offensive coordinators, none of these have been reported but five that are worth mentioning.
Hand over the keys, Jack.
I grew up in a home where we didn’t have many new cars during my childhood but instead had plenty of new, used cars. That meant more trips to car dealerships than from the majority, if not all of my friends.
One thing I took away from my dad during those trips were that no matter what deal was promised or pressure was applied, he would always go home to sleep on his thoughts before making a decision so big. The next day he’d then either go back if he still liked the deal or carry on looking for that next vehicle elsewhere.
When I went to bed last night I was thinking the same thing in regards to the Notre Dame coaching search. There are clearly a ton of routes to go, but to me there is one candidate that makes all of the sense even if his background doesn’t perfectly fit the mold of what has worked in the past for Notre Dame hirings.
I wasn’t ready to endorse it last night because of his lack of head coaching experience and the parallels I find to Bob Davie’s resume nearly 25 years ago. It’s a concern but it’s not a deal-breaker. Certainly not with what’s at stake.
Marcus Freeman should be the next head football coach at Notre Dame.
Next: Why Freeman?
The New Orleans Saints figure to be buyers, not sellers, but they do have a few trade candidates ahead of the NFL trade deadline:
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It would be a surprise to see the New Orleans Saints trade away players at the NFL trade deadline, but that could help facilitate new pickups. Whether it’s a player-for-player swap or a salary cap-minded move to free up resources to spend at a different position, we can’t rule out anything in the days ahead.
Still, I’d rather see the Saints pursue improvement on offense (especially in the receiving corps). But it’s tough to ignore the quality depth they’ve built up on defense, which could prove useful. Here are a few names on my radar before the Nov. 2 trade deadline:
