Tag: jordan howden

Pro Football Network says safety is Saints’ biggest remaining weakness

Pro Football Network says safety is the Saints’ biggest remaining weakness. That’s tough to buy when they don’t have a starting left guard:

Which positions look weakest on the New Orleans Saints’ depth chart? There’s still time to add reinforcements before training camp and the start of the 2024 season, but their options are limited with the biggest free agent signings and the NFL draft behind us.

According to Pro Football Network’s Dakota Randall, the Saints’ biggest remaining weakness is safety. Here’s why:

As we stand today, 2023 fifth-round pick Jordan Howden is in line to start alongside Tyrann Mathieu. That’s because the New Orleans Saints didn’t find any better players in free agency or during the draft.

They need to start planning for the future at this position.

It’s a little late to start planning for the future after the draft, and it’s not like the Saints haven’t signed anyone. They brought in veteran defensive back Will Harris while re-signing other experienced backups like Johnathan Abram (who started ahead of Howden to close out the 2023 season) and Ugo Amadi to round out the depth chart.

Sure, they don’t have many proven options who could confidently replace Marcus Maye next to Mathieu. It’s going to be Howden, Abram, or Harris filling that void in the fall. Hopefully Howden has learned enough after his rookie year to earn that job. But the Saints won games last year with both him and Abram starting in the secondary, so it’s not like this is a major priority.

At least not to the degree that the offensive line is a serious problem. The Saints don’t have a starting left guard right now. James Hurst retired and Andrus Peat signed with the Las Vegas Raiders, meaning their best options  on the roster are Nick Saldiveri (a college right tackle who the coaches didn’t want to play as a rookie), Oli Udoh (a career right guard with some experience at left tackle, but not left guard), and a journeyman free agent in Shane Lemieux. A couple of rookie free agents are also in the mix.

And that’s not getting into the depth issues at left tackle. Trevor Penning is about to jump out of the plane without a parachute if the Saints can’t sign a free agent who could fill in for him in a pinch, if not push him during camp. He was benched after just six starts last season for poor performance. Maybe he’s turned it around with hard work this offseason, but the only players behind him are Landon Young and Justin Herron, with 18 combined NFL starts between the two of them. It’s a dicey situation. Hopefully the Saints can improve things along the line (and, sure, at safety) before training camp starts in July.

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Giants rookie Tyler Nubin explains why he chose jersey No. 31

New York Giants rookie safety Tyler Nubin, who wore No. 27 in college, explains why he chose jersey No. 31.

For the second straight year, the New York Giants spent a second-round pick on a player from the University of Minnesota. After taking center John Michael Schmitz last year, this time the Giants took safety Tyler Nubin.

After Xavier McKinney departed in free agency to sign with the Green Bay Packers, Nubin comes in and immediately fills a void for the Giants.

Nubin wasted no time locking up his jersey number with the Giants. After wearing No. 27 in college, he will now wear No. 31 to pay homage to some other former University of Minnesota safeties who continued on to the NFL.

“I saw 31 was available and my dogs, Antoine Winfield and Jordan Howden, both wore 31 their rookie years in the league. Carrying tradition for gopher safeties wearing 31 in the league, I guess.” Nubin told reporters

Running back Matt Breida wore No. 31 last season.

Traditionally, No. 31 has been a popular one for Giants defensive backs, including Michael Thomas, Aaron Ross, Will Hill, and Jason Sehorn.

The Giants hope to continue the success they’ve had drafting safeties in the second round recently between Landon Collins (2015) and Xavier McKinney (2020).

Nubin will have big shoes to fill coming in to replace McKinney but general manager Joe Schoen seems confident he’ll fit right in.

Nubin’s reputation as an interchangeable safety seems to be the reason Schoen believes he will fit into the Giants’ defensive scheme.

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Jamal Adams is a solid option for New Orleans in free agency

Jamal Adams is still a free agent. The three-time Pro Bowl safety could help the Saints in multiple aspects, if he’s used properly:

Jamal Adams remains on the market during free agency, and the New Orleans Saints should be interested. Adams’ reputation has been tarnished since leaving the New York Giants, but what many critics don’t realize is that he was a second team All-Pro with the Seattle Seahawks in 2020 prior to being injured the following year. Injuries have interrupted his career, but he can still play at a high level in the right role.

The truth is that Adams specializes in playing close to the line of scrimmage. Using him in deep coverage consistently at this point of his career would be a coaching error. Dennis Allen has always used safeties there dating back to Kenny Vaccaro’s time with the team, then Vonn Bell, and Malcolm Jenkins. There’s a clearly-defined role ready for someone like Adams.

Tyrann Mathieu would continue to be the primarily deep safety in this situation. The Saints liked how Johnathan Abram performed in Marcus Maye’s absence when he went down with injury, but Abram isn’t solidified to start in 2024. Right now it looks like he’ll be competing with second-year safety Jordan Howden. Adams could make a compelling case for that role, too. Abram is also at his best closer to the line of scrimmage, so it’s not as if excelling as a deep coverage player is required for New Orleans.

Adams would deliver a boost to the Saints run defense that has struggled over the last few years. The Saints have also struggled to rush the passer recently. Adams was adept at blitzing and getting sacks early in his career He won’t be a coverage specialist but the tradeoff comes from needed value he could provide close to the line of scrimmage. With too few picks to spend on addressing all of their needs in the 2024 NFL draft, the Saints must consider all options to get better, and that includes players like Adams.

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Saints bring back safety Johnathan Abram, an important keep for 2024

The New Orleans Saints are bringing back safety Johnathan Abram. The veteran safety was a nice get in 2023, and a big priority for 2024:

Johnathan Abram is back with the New Orleans saints for 2024, the team announced Wednesday. The sixth-year pro was a good pickup in 2023 and retaining him was an offseason priority for New Orleans. Having released Marcus Maye at the start of the new league year, the Saints needed more depth at safety, and Abram figures to have a good opportunity to compete for a starting job next to Tyrann Mathieu and Jordan Howden.

Abram, 27, played well for the Saints while coming in off the bench, totaling 208 snaps across nine games. He started ahead of Howden for the last two games on their schedule including a breakout performance against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Abram intercepted Baker Mayfield and broke up another pass while forcing a fumble and logging 5 tackles. There were other games where his deficiencies in coverage were exposed, but games like that are good examples of what he can do when he’s locked in.

He was also an underrated source of leadership in the locker room, which is something Derek Car said he expected when the Saints first signed him. Younger teammates pointed to Abram as a positive influence during heated moments, and new free agent acquisitions like linebacker Willie Gay have singled him out as a big recruiter for the team. Whether or not Abram continues to start in 2024, he’s going to be someone the Saints continue to lean on.

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6 options for the Saints to replace Marcus Maye at safety

The Saints will be replacing Marcus Maye at safety, but who are their choices? Between in-house options, draft prospects, and free agents, here are six candidates:

Here’s another challenge for the New Orleans Saints offense: replacing Marcus Maye at safety. It’s been reported that the Saints will release Maye at the start of the new league year on March 13, buying them time to make decisions on other players before filing his release with the league office.

Even if Maye’s availability was a concern (he missed a full 17-game season’s worth of time with injuries and a suspension through two years), the Saints still need to account for his loss in the secondary. Between in-house options, draft prospects, and free agents, here are six candidates to watch:

New Orleans Saints to release starting safety Marcus Maye

The New Orleans Saints intend to release starting safety Marcus Maye at the start of the league year, per Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz:

The New Orleans Saints plan to release starting safety Marcus Maye when the new league year kicks off on March 13, per Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz. Maye had missed as many games (17) as he played for New Orleans (17) due to several injuries and a suspension over his two years with the team.

So it’s not too surprising that he’s being let go. Maye was due to count $9.6 million against the salary cap in 2024, the last year of his contract, and the Saints decided it’s worth more to replace him than keep it going. What’s curious is how they’re doing it.

If the Saints are simply cutting Maye loose they’ll have to pay more than $8.4 million against the cap in dead money, meaning they’re saving just $1.1 million by parting ways. But if they’re using one of their two post-June 1 cut designations on Maye, it means they’ll save the $1.1 million now and get another $6 million in savings over the summer to use to sign their rookie draft class and maybe some free agents for training camp. They’ll spread out the dead money with cap hits of $2.4 million in 2024 and $6 million in 2025, but again, the big savings won’t hit until June 2.

Which complicates things. Remember, teams are only allowed to use two of these designations. If the Saints are burning one of them on Maye then it means they can’t use it on one of the other two players who are seen as candidates for the post-June 1 release: Jameis Winston and Michael Thomas. Both players have firm deadlines to be released or extended so this isn’t a move the Saints are taking lightly. It means they’ve already decided which of them will be staying and who will be going.

Winston currently has a salary cap hit of $4.5 million but it’ll grow by about $100 million if he’s still on the roster by March 16, which means the Saints must tear up his contract and sign a new one or let him leave in free agency. Thomas is in a similar position with a $12.4 million cap hit. Releasing either of them with the post-June 1 designation would only save about $1.2 million, so this is all more procedural than actually helpful for the salary cap.

So stay tuned for clarity on Maye’s release and its impact on the Saints’ cap situation. What’s certain is that they must make their outgoing free agents at safety (guys like Johnathan Abram, Lonnie Johnson, and Ugo Amadi) priorities to re-sign. They should also consider additions in the draft or free agency to compete with Jordan Howden for the starting job next to Tyrann Mathieu — who, it should be noted, has played well in New Orleans and could sign an extension to finish his career in his hometown.

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NFL analyst says Saints’ 2023 draft class made a poor first impression

This NFL analyst graded the New Orleans Saints’ 2023 draft class a C+, saying that they made a poor first impression:

Looking back on it now, the biggest critique of the 2023 New Orleans Saints draft class was overall inactivity. Defensive tackle Bryan Bresee was the only draftee you can point to who played significant time, so it’s not difficult to see why NFL.com’s Eric Edholm gave the draft class a C+ grade. Jordan Howden also filled in at safety due to injuries, but he spent half of the season only coming in for specific packages. It’s just difficult to grade a class high when most of the players didn’t see the field often.

Defensive end Isaiah Foskey, offensive lineman Nick Saldiveri and quarterback Jake Haener were absolute non-factors in 2023. Haener was a third-string quarterback, as expected, so there’s no problem there. Foskey and Saldiveri, however, were disappointments this year. The Saints’ pass rush struggled so badly that defensive end is still looked at as a priority to many this offseason. Despite that, Foskey barely saw the field. The health of the offensive line was depleted, but there was still no Saldiveri, who ended the year with his own injury.

The grade is fair but still tough to swallow. New Orleans’ rookie draft class was disappointing in their debut season, but that doesn’t mean they can’t improve. Howden, wide receiver A.T. Perry and running back Kendre Miller all flashed the potential to be quality players with more snaps. Time will tell if Foskey or Saldiveri make an impact, but it feels as if they’ll be pushed down the depth chart this offseason. The only sure thing the Saints have from their draft class is Bresee. Hopefully he can continue to dodge the injury bug that trailed him in college and make plays for the defensive line.

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Several Saints assistants working with 2024 draft prospects at Shrine Bowl

Several Saints assistant coaches are working with 2024 draft prospects at the East-West Shrine Bowl. New Orleans added 8 players from last year’s event:

The New Orleans Saints will have a heavy presence at this year’s East-West Shrine Bowl, which makes sense given how many future NFL players have participated in the event. And the 2024 draft class is following that pattern.

Three Saints assistant coaches have been assigned to work with draft prospects at this year’s Shrine Bowl, all on the West Team. It’s as good an opportunity for future pros to work with NFL coaches as it is for each of these men to advance their careers.

Here’s a quick look at them and the players they’ll be working with:

6 biggest surprises from the Saints’ 2023 season

The 6 biggest surprises from the New Orleans Saints’ 2023 season:

The New Orleans Saints did not have the season that fans wanted in 2023, but that doesn’t mean that it was all bad. Among the disappointing finish were a few players that outperformed their expectations and gave fans something to look forward to in the future.

Here are six names that we felt pleasantly surprised with their play:

Why was Johnathan Abram, not Jordan Howden, starting at safety for Saints?

Why was Johnathan Abram, not Jordan Howden, starting at safety for the Saints? The coaches had a good reason, and Abram made the most of his opportunity:

Jordan Howden has been a regular face in the New Orleans Saints secondary, so it was a little jarring to see him not in the starting lineup next to Tyrann Mathieu on Sunday. But the Saints coaching staff had a good reason for making a change: Howden was sidelined in practice to start the week with an illness that was still limiting him.

That prompted them to call up Johnathan Abram, who took Howden’s place as Marcus Maye’s fill-in. And Abram certainly made the most of that opportunity. He tied with Mathieu for the second-most tackles in Sunday’s win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers while also forcing a fumble, intercepting a pass, and breaking up another throw into his coverage.

Saints head coach Dennis Allen complimented Abram’s performance after the game, saying: “I thought he played really well, I was extremely proud of him. Happy for him, the way that he played. Great effort play on the strip to cause a fumble that Demario (Davis) recovered. There was a number of things he did well, but that stands out.”

Allen pointed to Abram as a veteran in the defensive backs room who has spent more time studying game tape than maybe anyone else on the roster; Abram started out on the practice squad to start the year before getting chances to dress out for games here or there prior to this start. Props to him for seizing his opportunity.

Maybe it’ll lead to a larger role for him with free agency on the horizon. A former Raiders first-round draft pick out of Mississippi State, Abram suited up for a couple of different teams last year before he reunited with Derek Carr in New Orleans. He quickly established himself as a valuable player on the depth chart, and the Saints are fortunate to have him. We’ll see if he can continue to make a positive difference in Week 18’s regular season finale.

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