Tag: Kaden Elliss

4 potential free agent fits for Saints linebacker Kaden Elliss

Will the Saints lose Kaden Elliss? That’s a question a lot of fans are asking ahead of free agency. These four teams could be contenders for his services:

Will the New Orleans Saints lose Kaden Elliss? That’s a question a lot of fans are asking ahead of free agency, with many of them picking the linebacker as the team’s top in-house priority now that tight end Juwan Johnson is returning for 2023. But Elliss could be entering a lukewarm market with just one season of notable production behind him. Prior to 2022, he was limited to special teams through his first three years in New Orleans.

One issue for him is the depth at the position — just some of the other linebackers testing free agency this week include widely-respected veterans Lavonte David and Bobby Wagner, young Pro Bowler Tremaine Edmunds, and players on the rise like David Long, T.J. Edwards, Bobby Okereke, Germaine Pratt, and Drue Tranquill, among others. Elliss might have a hard time standing out from the pack.

Still, there’s always room for playmaking second-level defenders in this league. And Elliss should command some attention as budget-conscious teams are outbid for the top players in free agency. Here are four potential landing-spots for him outside New Orleans:

Saints’ schematic tendencies make it tough to justify paying Kaden Elliss what he’s worth

The Saints’ schematic tendencies make it tough to pay Kaden Elliss what he’s worth. They just don’t run many plays with all three linebackers on the field together:

Soon-to-be free agent linebacker Kaden Elliss raised an illuminating point when discussing his future with the New Orleans Saints. Money won’t be his only consideration in choosing his next team — scheme will, too. He’s looking to land in a good situation where he can use his talents to their greatest potential, and where he’ll have the most opportunities to get on the field.

And that may not be the case for New Orleans. The Saints simply don’t play enough snaps with all three of their top linebackers (Elliss, Demario Davis, and Pete Werner) on the field at the same time to justify paying Elliss what he’s seeking. And if they are willing to match what he’ll get from other teams, they face the hurdle of competitors being able to play Elliss more often than the Saints’ scheme allows.

According to Sports Info Solutions, the Saints defense spent just 83 snaps in base personnel (with three linebackers) on passing downs compared to 299 snaps in nickel (with five defensive backs) and 144 in dime (with six defensive backs), ranking among league leaders. On running downs, they played 179 snaps in base, 277 in nickel, and 23 in dime.

To simplify that, of the 1,005 total defensive snaps the Saints played last year they were in base personnel for just 262 of them (26.1%). An overwhelming 576 snaps were played in nickel (57.3%) and 167 were in dime (16.6%). When you have as little salary cap flexibility as the Saints do this year, it’s really tough to justify paying someone who is only on the field for 15 to 20 snaps each week like a starter at their position.

In a perfect world, the Saints would be able to make a clean transition from Davis to Elliss in the starting lineup next to Werner, allowing the 34-year-old Pro Bowler to hang up his cleats and exit stage left with grace. But Davis still has another year or three left in him, and Elliss can’t afford to wait around and spend his athletic prime as a backup much longer. At the same time, the Saints shouldn’t drastically change their approach to accommodate a single player. It’s a tough problem to resolve. We’ll find out in a few weeks how everyone involved chose to make their move.

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Kaden Elliss says ‘numbers and scheme’ will determine return to Saints in 2023

Kaden Elliss told The Spun’s Chris Rosvoglou that ‘numbers and scheme’ will determine whether he returns to the Saints in 2023:

Kaden Elliss is an underrated New Orleans Saints free agent, having broken out in 2022 with career-highs in defensive snaps played (632), quarterback pressures (20, 8 of them sacks per Pro Football Focus charting), and tackles (45), along with a pair of fumbles.

The veteran linebacker has been a top special teams player for the Saints ever since they drafted him out of Idaho back in 2019, and now the former sixth-round pick is looking to establish himself as a starter — somewhere around the league.

“I’d love to be back,” Elliss told The Spun’s Chris Rosvoglou. “They’ve made it clear they want me back. It’ll come down to the numbers and scheme. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

That makes sense. If Elliss gets a competitive offer in free agency, he owes it to himself to take it — this is his first shot at a life-changing NFL payday. And unless the Saints introduce drastic scheme changes to field three or more linebackers on most of their defensive snaps (they overwhelmingly prefer to run nickel personnel with an extra defensive back instead), he’ll have more opportunities to get on the field elsewhere.

So if another team is willing to pay more than New Orleans or give Elliss more snaps than he’d see with the Saints, he’s gone. It’s a similar situation to what happened with Al-Quadin Muhammad, Vonn Bell, and Sheldon Rankins in recent years. They were all squeezed out of the roster by a combination of other viable players at the position and stronger contract offers with other teams.

With Demario Davis and Pete Werner expected to play the majority of snaps at linebacker for the Saints in 2023, there isn’t much of a role for Elliss. He’s not going to displace either of them in the fall. And New Orleans needs to see something from backup linebackers coming off of injuries like Zack Baun and D’Marco Jackson. Those same injury histories are reason for an investment at the position, but it’s hard to justify paying Davis and Elliss both like starting-quality players if only one of them is going to be on the field at a time.

Hopefully things work out to where Elliss can return. He played his role well and deserves bigger opportunities. Davis will probably be hanging up his cleats in two or three years (he turned 34 in January) and being patient could pay off for No. 55. At the same time, it’s hard to tell him to just be patient and wait his turn when careers in the NFL can be so fleeting.

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Comparing contract projections for the top Saints free agents

Comparing contract projections for the top Saints free agents, from Marcus Davenport to Kaden Elliss and David Onyemata:

What sort of market will the top New Orleans Saints free agents command once they’re able to talk shop with other teams? That’s what the analysts at Pro Football Focus and Spotrac set out to examine, and we’ll be examining their findings to see whether the Saints could make competitive offers in holding onto these talented players.

Starters like defensive linemen Marcus Davenport and David Onyemata are headed for free agency, as are top backups like linebacker Kaden Elliss, defensive tackle Shy Tuttle, returns specialist Deonte Harty, and quarterback Andy Dalton. Here’s what the salary cap experts have to say about each of their fortunes:

Do the Saints have any franchise tag candidates in 2023?

Do the New Orleans Saints have any franchise tag candidates in 2023? The window to use the tag has opened, with tough decisions ahead:

The window to use the franchise tag has opened, with tough decisions ahead of the New Orleans Saints. But do they even have any franchise tag candidates in 2023? Sure, the team has several free agents who should command real interest on the open market — starters like defensive linemen Marcus Davenport and David Onyemata rank high among their peers, and high-upside talents like linebacker Kaden Elliss and tight end Juwan Johnson should draw attention from other teams — but it’s really difficult to see the Saints using the tag and guaranteeing a ton of money to one of those players that can’t be restructured or moved around in any way.

Between their precarious salary cap outlook and their lack of high-dollar candidates, it just isn’t feasible. And that’s not to mention how poorly things went for the Saints the last time they used the franchise tag. Sure, it kept free safety Marcus Williams in town another year, but they weren’t able to agree on a long-term contract extension and he bolted for the Baltimore Ravens last offseason without returning any compensation to New Orleans. The money allotted for his tag could have been better put to use retaining someone like pass rusher Trey Hendrickson on a long-term deal, but oh well.

Let’s touch on each of those free agents and what it would cost the Saints to tag them (showing why it isn’t a realistic option) before the window shuts in two weeks:

Saints free agent review: LB Kaden Elliss, stay or go?

New Orleans Saints free agent review: Linebacker Kaden Elliss made the most of his opportunities in 2022, but will he stay or will he go?

There might not be another player who made the most of his contract year with the New Orleans Saints in 2022 than Kaden Elliss. The veteran linebacker has been cast as a backup since being drafted out of Idaho back in 2019, logging more snaps on special teams (880) than defense (826) in his Saints career. But he got his opportunity to show what he can do when starting linebacker Pete Werner missed a large chunk of the 2022 season with an injury, and now Elliss has the Saints facing a really difficult decision.

Can they afford to let him get out of the building? Demario Davis is likely to retire within the next couple of years, but Elliss won’t be starting if Davis and Werner both return for 2023. It would be nice to make a clean transition from Davis-and-Werner to Werner-and-Elliss, but that’s not going to be an easy trick to pull off. With the Saints still running few three-linebacker looks, odds are Elliss will have other opportunities to start in free agency. Let’s recap his 2022 campaign and forecast his future in 2023:

The Saints took a big step back in 2022 NFL special teams rankings

The Saints took a big step back in Rick Gosselin’s 2022 NFL special teams rankings. After finishing 1st, 5th, and 5th from 2019 to 2021, they’ve dropped to 20th:

The New Orleans Saints special teams squad had a rough go of it in 2022. Place kicker Wil Lutz had his worst year as a pro by connecting on just 74.1% of his field goal tries, lowest for a team in the NFL, and it took a while for Rashid Shaheed to emerge as their best option returning punts and kickoffs. The Saints struggled to cover their own kicks, too, with injuries sidelining some of their best gunners at different points throughout the year.

It all compounded for New Orleans to rank at No. 20 in Rick Gosselin’s 2022 NFL special teams rankings. Gosselin has been scoring every team’s performance in the game’s third phase for years and he’s seen as the foremost authority on special teams play around the league. So it’s concerning to see the Saints fall within the bottom-third of the league.

That’s a steep drop from their fifth-best ranking in 2021 and 2020. And it’s kind of surprising. The Saints were ranked first in the NFL back in 2019, the first year with special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi in the building. Rizzi added the assistant head coach title in 2022 so it’s possible his added responsibilities in that role led to some gaffes in the kicking game, but that’s impossible to prove from the outside looking in.

Hopefully things turn around in 2023. The Saints may release Lutz as a salary cap casualty, and punter Blake Gillikin is a restricted free agent (as is their special teams ace J.T. Gray). Six of their top seven players in special teams snaps played last year are pending free agents: linebacker Andrew Dowell (379 snaps), safety Daniel Sorensen (319), Gray (320), linebacker Kaden Elliss (278), running back Dwayne Washington (259), and linebacker Chase Hansen (197). Change feels inevitable there, but after a down performance it’s probably needed.

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6 most pleasantly surprising Saints players of 2022

The #Saints season wasn’t what most had expected, but there were some bright spots. These 6 players were pleasant surprises in 2022, via @RossJacksonNOLA:

It wasn’t all bad. While the New Orleans Saints finished their season with a disappointing 7-10 record, there were multiple bright spots along their roster.  Whether it was young talent outperforming expectations or familiar faces taking their next steps, there were several positive surprises on the Saints roster in 2022.

While some players like rookie wide receiver Chris Olave and linebacker Pete Werner were excellent, this list is going to focus on players that we did not expect to have larger roles in 2022. But those that did and found a way to shine in their opportunities were plentiful. These players are among the reasons for continued optimism around the Saints’ future in coming seasons.

These 29 Saints players will become free agents this offseason

These 29 Saints players will become free agents this offseason. How many of them will return to New Orleans for 2023?

A lot of familiar faces might be walking out the door again for the New Orleans Saints this offseason. 29 different players will see their contracts expire in March, setting them up for free agency — in many cases, for the first time of their careers.

But there are different levels to this. Some players are going to be classified as unrestricted free agents, meaning they can entertain any and all offers from around the league. Others will be listed as restricted free agents, which means the Saints will have at least the right of first refusal once they’re on the open market. And a couple of players carry exclusive rights free agent status, which means their options are to play for New Orleans or nowhere else.

And a handful of players will see their contracts automatically expire in March, putting them into unrestricted free agency, while leaving a salary cap hit behind as “dead money” that stays on the books from previously restructured deals. Paying costs for players no longer on your roster isn’t ideal, so we should expect the Saints to at least make an effort at retaining them.

That’s enough setup. Here’s the list:

Juwan Johnson, Kaden Elliss lead Saints’ top-7 2023 free agents to re-sign

Juwan Johnson, Kaden Elliss headline the list of the Saints’ top 2023 free agents to re-sign:

It might not feel like it, but we’re already in the middle of the New Orleans Saints’ rebuild. The high-end rosters that defined Drew Brees’ final years with the team have gotten older and lost key players in each phase of the game: offense, defense, and special teams. To be frank, the Saints haven’t played enough competitive football over the last two seasons to look at them in the same light as the squads that preceded them.

With the 2023 offseason around the corner, it’s important the Saints take a hard look at the shape of their roster and consider which free agents to prioritize in the spring. There are many players they should bring back, but some in-house free agents should take priority. Here are seven on top of our list: