Tag: Cesar Ruiz

Saints have more Washington 2020 draft picks than the Commanders do

There are more players from Washington’s 2020 draft class in New Orleans than on the Commanders’ roster. But they outnumber the Saints’ own 2020 draft picks, too:

Don’t look now, but the New Orleans Saints have rostered more players from the Washington Commanders’ 2020 draft class than Washington themselves. There isn’t a single player that the Commanders picked in 2020 remaining in Washington. Two of them landed with the Saints this offseason: defensive end Chase Young (a first-round pick) and linebacker Khaleke Kudson (a fifth rounder). The Times-Picayune | Advocate’s Matthew Paras, a former Washington beat writer, first shared this observation.

But here’s the twist. There are more players from Washington’s 2020 draft class now suiting up for the Saints than New Orleans’ own 2020 draft haul. The Saints went into the 2020 draft talking up a quality-over-quantity approach, trading up three times and coming away with just four players: right guard Cesar Ruiz, linebacker Zack Baun, tight end Adam Trautman, and quarterback-turned-tight end Tommy Stevens.

That plan blew up in their face. The Saints cut Stevens early in the season after initially stashing him on their practice squad. They traded Trautman during the 2023 draft (to the Denver Broncos, reuniting him with Sean Payton). Baun left in free agency last month to sign a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles. The only player remaining from that four-man band is Ruiz, who signed a contract extension last September.

So the Saints have two players from Washington’s 2020 draft class and just one of their own. That’s not the best of resources by either team. Regime change has already come for the Commanders (plus a change in ownership), and it might be on the way for New Orleans if the Saints miss the playoffs for the fourth year in a row and the third season with Dennis Allen as head coach. Hopefully they can turn things around, one way or another.

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Saints work towards salary cap compliance by restructuring Nathan Shepherd

The New Orleans Saints are continuing to work towards salary cap compliance by restructuring their contract with Nathan Shepherd:

Here’s your next New Orleans Saints salary cap maneuver: ESPN’s Field Yates reports that the team restructured their contract with defensive tackle Nathan Shepherd to save “just north of $3 (million)” following similar moves with quarterback Derek Carr and center Erik McCoy. Another restructure with right guard Cesar Ruiz is also in the works, per ESPN.

There’s just one thing: the math doesn’t check out for this to yield more than $3 million in savings. Shepherd was due $4.1 million in base salary with a $1 million signing bonus payout in 2024 prior to this restructure, which made for a $5.1 million cap hit. Lowering his salary to the minimum ($1.125 million) and converting the difference into a new signing bonus ($2.975 million paid out over five years for accounting purposes) would yield $2.23 million in savings, dropping his cap hit from $5.1 million to just $2.72 million.

So maybe that’s a typo or mistake from Yates. $2.23 million could be credibly described as “just north of” $2 million. We’ll see if Yates shares a clarification or if there’s something else going on here. Either way, whether it’s $2 million or $3 million, every dollar counts for the Saints. Few teams spend more than they do.

Shepherd’s base salary for 2024 was already guaranteed when he signed with the Saints last year, so he was going to get this money regardless. It’s just being paid out differently to better work around the salary cap. After restructuring their deals with Shepherd, Carr, and McCoy with Ruiz’s expected restructure factoring in, the Saints should be over the cap by about $33.2 million. That’s already $50 million less than where they started in offsesason projections.

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Next steps for the Saints after NFL sends 2024 salary cap to the moon

The NFL’s heightened 2024 salary cap brings a big boost for the Saints. They’re a couple of moves away from reaching cap compliance:

The NFL’s heightened 2024 salary cap brings a big boost for the New Orleans Saints. With the cap taking an unprecedented $30 million jump this offseason, the Saints are just a couple of moves away from reaching cap compliance — and then some. They’ll be able to clear enough room to make some noise in free agency and enter the bidding for talented veterans.

With the NFL announcing that this year’s salary cap is set at a record $255.4 million, the experts at Over The Cap estimate the Saints to be in the red by a little over $40 million. That’s less than half of the $83 million hole New Orleans sat in entering the offseason. But there’s more work to be done. Here’s how the Saints can clear their remaining negative cap space and open up more resources to take into free agency:

Report: Saints plan to restructure their contract with guard Cesar Ruiz

ESPN reports the New Orleans Saints plan to restructure their contract with right guard Cesar Ruiz, saving another chunk of salary cap resources:

More moves are coming for the New Orleans Saints as they continue to work to reach salary cap compliance — ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that the Saints plan to restructure their contract with right guard Cesar Ruiz, having already done so with quarterback Derek Carr and center Erik McCoy.

Ruiz signed a deal last summer that was primed for restructure: his extension included a league-minimum base salary in 2024 along with an $8 million roster bonus. In order to restructure his contract, the Saints are going to  have to convert that roster bonus into a signing bonus and pay it out over the four years remaining on Ruiz’s contract, which will save $6,580,000 against the cap this year. It’s a smart move since the money was already promised, it’s just being paid out in a way that makes life easier for the team’s accountants.

According to estimates from the experts at Over The Cap, the Saints were in the red by about $53.7 million after restructuring their contracts with Carr and McCoy. Adding Ruiz to the list will drop them down to approximately $47.2 million. Still a ways to go before reaching salary cap compliance (with more needed to sign veteran free agents), but already nearly half where they started the offseason, without cutting a single player. This has been the plan all along. We’ll have to see if the changes to the coaching staff can make enough improvements to justify it.

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Saints’ 10 worst offensive players in 2023, per PFF

These were the Saints’ 10 lowest-rated offensive players in 2023, per Pro Football Focus grading, including Cesar Ruiz and Trevor Penning:

The New Orleans Saints was out of sorts again in 2023, though they rallied late — managing to put some bandages over weaknesses and vulnerabilities at various position groups. But they must go into 2024 with a better plan for using the talent on this roster.

So where to start? The offensive line graded poorly across the board at Pro Football Focus, but here are the 10 players on offense (minimum 100 snaps) who received the lowest player grades from PFF:

Mickey Loomis previews ‘important offseason’ for Trevor Penning

Mickey Loomis previewed an ‘important offseason’ for Trevor Penning, suggesting changes are needed to help the left tackle succeed:

What can the New Orleans Saints do to help Trevor Penning? That’s a major question that general manager Mickey Loomis must grapple with in the days and weeks ahead, and he says the team has a responsibility to do right by the young player.

“It’s an important offseason for him,” Loomis told WWL Radio’s Jeff Nowak. “We’ve got to put him in a situation to be successful. We’ve got to help him with his development, his confidence. He’s got the ability to be a really good player in our league, but we’ve got to enable that by putting him in the right environment, giving the right development, and we’ll do that.”

We’re only reading the tea leaves here, but that doesn’t sound like a bright endorsement for offensive line coach Doug Marrone or his assistants Jahri Evans and Kevin Carberry. Evans is someone players like right guard Cesar Ruiz have pointed to as a positive influence, but the line as a whole has regressed since Marrone took over two seasons ago.

If Loomis doesn’t feel that Marrone (and either, or both, of his assistants) is the right coach to develop Penning and other young linemen the team has drafted, a change makes sense. That sure seems to be what he’s suggesting.

But it’s possible the Saints could look at moving Penning to a different — and hopefully more advantageous — position. Could he slide inside to guard? It’s not something he’s done much of before and his flaws might be highlighted there. Penning struggles with leverage and getting to his marks out in space, both of which stem from his choppy feet. For someone who is such a gifted athlete he doesn’t have a great efficiency of movement. Asking him to pull and block on the move more often isn’t something he’s suited to right now.

Of course that could change. At this point the Saints need to see something — anything — from Penning to justify what they paid to acquire him. Multiple picks in the top two rounds were spent on getting a player Loomis hoped could contribute right away. Obviously things haven’t gone as hoped or expected for Penning so far, but he has time to turn it around. Maybe moving to a new position or changing his position coach (changing the environment, as Loomis said) could help him come into his own in the NFL.

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The Saints have an easy decision on Payton Turner’s fifth-year option

Unfortunately, the Saints have an easy decision on Payton Turner’s fifth-year option. Maybe he can turn things around like Cesar Ruiz did:

Unfortunately, the New Orleans Saints may not need to wait until the May 2 deadline to choose whether to pick up Payton Turner’s fifth-year option for 2025. The former 2021 first-round pick just hasn’t shown enough to warrant the cost: an estimated (and fully-guaranteed) $13.8 million, per the experts at Over The Cap.

For context, the Saints have already paid Turner a total of $10.1 million between his signing bonus and first three years’ salary. In 2024 he’ll play on a salary just over $2.3 million.

To this point in his three-year career Turner has appeared in a total of 15 games (out of 51 combined Saints games played), missing all but the first and last matchups in 2023 due to a devastating injury. He was banged up through his first two years in the league, too, but he missed a handful of games as a healthy scratch when teammates were outproducing him. In those 15 games he has totaled 29 tackles (20 solo, 8 tackles for loss), 3 sacks, 8 quarterback hits, and a fumble recovery.

Now he’s going into a make-or-break 2024 season. If Turner can stay healthy and make plays rushing the quarterback, he’ll earn an extension with the Saints in 2025 or a lucrative contract elsewhere. If he can’t do either of those things, he may hang around the league for a little while thanks to his draft status, but it’s just as possible that he’ll be out of the game altogether.

In any case: the 2024 season is critically important for Turner’s future in pro football. He did everything right in 2023 by attacking the offseason with a positive attitude and being receptive to coaching. He just needs to repeat that process and hope for better injury luck when the season kicks off.

This isn’t the end of the line for Turner. The Saints chose to not exercise right guard Cesar Ruiz’s fifth-year option for 2024, either, ultimately signing him to a long-term extension before the season started in 2023. Ruiz broke out in 2022 after settling into his new position and built on that progress over the summer. Obviously Turner isn’t in the same situation, but he can still turn things around and earn a second contract with the team that drafted him. With Cameron Jordan getting older and the Saints pass rush falling off, they could really use a breakout campaign from Turner in the fall.

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Saints aren’t eager to explain in-game squabble between Derek Carr, Erik McCoy

The Saints are brushing off a squabble between Derek Carr and Erik McCoy. Dennis Allen says he ‘wouldn’t read too much into’ the heated altercation:

A lot happened in the New Orleans Saints’ win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday — both good and bad. But nothing caught fans’ attention more than the late-game altercation between quarterback Derek Carr and center Erik McCoy.

Carr picked himself up off the ground in a fury after being sacked by Panthers linebacker Frankie Luvu, who beat right guard Cesar Ruiz to bowl Carr over as he dropped back to pass. Carr took aim at McCoy after the play, who responded in kind, and the pair had to be separated. Left guard James Hurst walled off McCoy as they returned to the sideline where backup quarterback Jameis Winston corralled Carr.

Other veterans on the team like running back Alvin Kamara and wide receiver Lynn Bowden Jr. bridged the gap, and the pair eventually hashed things out together on the bench. The offense rallied to close out a 28-6 win. But there were few people in the locker room willing to discuss the incident after the game, including head coach Dennis Allen.

“These kinds of things happen on the field. I’m glad that both of them had the balls to stand up and fight,” Allen said after the game. “Guys, they get pissed. Sometimes things get emotional. I wouldn’t read too much into it. We addressed it. Let’s move on.”

Dustups do happen in pro football, but it’s unusual to see a franchise quarterback going back and forth like this with his center. The two players who touch the football on every single play should be in sync, and they clearly weren’t. Whether Carr misidentified the middle linebacker to set protection before the snap or McCoy failed to help Ruiz pick up the blitz is unclear, and they’re all more interested in moving forward than dwelling on it.

Both McCoy and Carr brushed over the issue after the game, reiterating Allen’s point that these things happen, they’re good now, and there are no divisions splitting the locker room apart (WWL Radio’s Jeff Nowak shared transcripts from their postgame media availability here if you’d like to read full comments). So we aren’t likely to get any real resolution on the record any time soon.

Still: it’s near-impossible to watch this team each week, pay attention when guys are speaking on camera and into microphones, and not come away feeling that something isn’t right. Players and coaches and front office executives are not in lockstep and that discord is reflected in their losing record. Hopefully they can mend fences, build on this win, and work towards a run at the NFC South crown. There’s too much invested in these players and this coaching staff to settle for less.

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ProBlue: Five best performances from Michigan alum in Week 6

Great week for former Wolverines! #GoBlue

This is one of the best seasons for NFL Michigan athletes in recent memory. Daxton Hill, D.J. Turner, Nico Collins, Josh Metellus, and many more are finally breaking out, Hutchinson looks like a game-wrecker — and the Lions are actually good!

Michigan will be a defense-heavy school for the near future. Nico Collins is the first (and only) offensive player to make the prestigious award. Next year’s draft might shake some things up, but the Wolverines will always be a dangerous team.

Take a look at my five best player performances from former Wolverines who excelled in an exciting Week 6 of the NFL.

Protecting the Saints quarterback is a little more important this week

The Saints offensive line has struggled and clearly needs to improve. This week, their improvement will be imperative to getting the victory | @southexclusives

The New Orleans Saints have to protect the quarterback to defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If Friday’s practice is any indication, that quarterback will be Derek Carr. Regardless if it’s Carr or Jameis Winston, the key remains the same. Protect him.

This isn’t a reaction to Carr getting injured last week. Pressure has been a prevailing issue for the offensive line, and could keep them from exploiting a major weakness for the Buccaneers. Cornerbacks Jamel Dean and Derrick Pitts Jr. have already been ruled out and Carlton Davis is questionable with an injury.

Injuries to the secondary make it imperative that the Saints protect the quarterback. You can’t take advantage of a weak secondary without time to throw. We saw that last week against the Carolina Panthers.

The Saints are also dealing with their own injuries along the offensive line. Offensive guard Cesar Ruiz will miss this game after leaving last week with a concussion. That likely puts James Hurst at right guard and Andrus Peat at left guard. The Saints offensive line will be less than 100% trying to deal with with a Bucs defense that blitzes a lot. Whether Carr is starting or not, the pass protection must improve from what we’ve seen as of late. If No. 4 is back there then a clean pocket becomes even more important.

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