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5 Saints players who could return to NFL Network’s Top 100 Players of 2021

5 Saints players who could be on NFL Network’s Top 100 Players of 2021

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The NFL Network is will premier its annual Top 100 Players list in three one-hour episodes beginning on Sunday, Aug. 15 at 3 p.m. CT. The third and final installment will air on Saturday, Aug. 28. No team landed more players on last year’s list than the New Orleans Saints, with seven selections, but who could return this season?

Unlike other rankings you’ll see across the NFL media landscape, this list is voted on by the players themselves. That leads to some controversial placements with some guys landing too high or too low (or not ranked at all), but it makes for a fun offseason discussion.

Drew Brees and Michael Thomas may not make the cut, between their injury-plagued seasons and, you know, Brees retiring. That leaves five other holdovers from last year’s list, which we’ll get into below (plus some snubs who got overlooked last time).

Saints left the door open for Michael Thomas to make an early return from PUP list

The New Orleans Saints could have sidelined Michael Thomas until late October after surgery, but instead chose to keep their options open:

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It’s a small thing, but the New Orleans Saints took an encouraging step on the Michael Thomas front this week. While the All-Pro wide receiver was designated to the physically unable to perform (PUP) list on Monday, the Saints made an important distinction: Thomas remains on the active roster (active/PUP) rather than the reserve listing (reserve/PUP).

This means he could return sooner than expected. If Thomas had been sent to the reserve/PUP list, he would have had to go on ice until at least Week 6 (New Orleans’ bye) during the regular season. Instead, he’ll have an opportunity to work to recover from ankle surgery during training camp and possibly join his teammates sooner rather than later. That doesn’t mean he’ll be ready for Week 1 — far from it — but it does suggest the team hopes he can avoid a worst-case five-game absence to start the season.

NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill first reported that Thomas did not receive a planned second evaluation on his injured ankle this summer, leading the Saints to tell him to get surgery after he failed to rehabilitate without going under the knife. With his recovery timeline starting in June (a specific date has not yet come to light), avoiding the reserve/PUP designation early on is probably the best we can hope for.

Still, we shouldn’t overreact to this. It’s nothing more than a good sign that Thomas won’t be unavailable deep into the regular season. There’s very much a scenario where his recovery extends further than expected, and he has to go on the reserve/PUP list in Week 1 after all. That just isn’t a decision the shot-callers in New Orleans are ready to make yet. They’re going to give Thomas as much time as they can to get his body right and show he’s ready to play. Here’s hoping their optimism is rewarded.

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Franchise-tagged Saints stud Marcus Williams snubbed on best NFL safeties list

Touchdown Wire ranked the best safeties in the NFL, but New Orleans Saints franchise tagged player Marcus Williams was overlooked.

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The New Orleans Saints value Marcus Williams; that message was sent loud and clear when they issued the franchise tag to the 24-year old safety just months after his strongest season in the NFL, or at least his best performance since his dynamic 2017 rookie year out of Utah. But when Touchdown Wire ranked the league’s 11 top safeties (plus eight honorable mentions), Williams was nowhere to be found. A charitable reading of that suggests Williams is, at best, ranks 20th among his beers.

It’s a heck of an oversight. Williams has bagged more regular season interceptions since he entered the league (13) than everyone on the list but Justin Simmons (No. 1), Tyrann Mathieu (No. 2), Harrison Smith (No. 9), Quandre Diggs (No. 11), and Jordan Poyer (an honorable mention), but ball skills weren’t the only factor considered (or else Kevin Byard, with 18 interceptions in that span, would have also earned a spot).

Williams has been dinged for his missed tackles, most infamously in the you-know-what, but the problem persisted until 2020 when he finally shored up his technique. He missed just three times on 62 attempts last season, per Pro Football Reference. You’d think that progress would have been noticed, but oh well.

Maybe Williams has to sign a big-money deal to get on national analysts’ radar. He’s in line for a payday, either in the next few weeks before a July 15 deadline to work out an extension or next spring should the Saints not use the franchise tag again. And he’s young enough to sign a $61 million deal like Simmons and get paid again before he turns 30. Whether he’s getting the offseason accolades or not, the Saints clearly value Williams, and he’s going to get his due — probably at the bank.

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LOOK: The Big Ten’s top 10 win leaders over the last 10 football seasons

The Wisconsin football program is a model of consistency. Zero losing seasons since 2001, 10 10-win seasons and a consistent spot in the

The Wisconsin football program is a model of consistency. Zero losing seasons since 2001, 10 10-win seasons and a consistent spot in the AP Top 25 during that span.

When you look at their success in the grand scheme of the Big Ten and college football, you may be surprised which big-name programs are right there with them.

Here’s some context:

Wisconsin over the last 10 years has more wins than…

Oregon
Florida State
Penn State
Michigan
Texas A&M
Florida
Auburn

For their place in the Big Ten conference over the last 10 years, continue to the list below.

Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.

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2021 New Orleans Saints undrafted free agents tracker

The New Orleans Saints immediately got to work on filling out their roster with undrafted free agents following the 2021 NFL draft.

The 2021 NFL draft has wrapped up, and now the real fun begins with the New Orleans Saints elbowing their way into the undrafted free agent market. With 22 vacant roster spots to fill, they’ll be active recruiters in working to fill their roster up to its 90-man capacity.

Nothing is official until the team confirms it, but here’s our live tracker of the undrafted rookies reportedly coming to New Orleans. This will be updated frequently in the hours and days ahead, so check back often.

Saints receive 2021 seventh round draft pick in Malcom Brown trade

The New Orleans Saints traded starting defensive tackle Malcom Brown to the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for a 2021 NFL draft pick.

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NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill reports that the Saints will receive a seventh round pick in the 2021 NFL draft after trading nose tackle Malcom Brown to the Jacksonville Jaguars, which was confirmed by Brett Martel and Mark Long of the Associated Press. It’s not immediately clear which seventh rounder the Jaguars are giving up: they own two, per Tankathon.com, at slot Nos. 229 (the first pick of round seven) and 250 (via trade with the Arizona Cardinals). We’ll assume the latter.

Still, that’s a nice return for New Orleans considering the Saints planned to cut Brown anyway. Getting something rather than nothing is always good to see. His departure does create a hole to fill in the middle of their defensive line, even with a couple of young players waiting for their opportunity in Shy Tuttle and Malcolm Roach.

For the curious, the last five players drafted by the Saints in the seventh round were quarterback Tommy Stevens, tight end Alize Mack, linebacker Kaden Elliss, offensive lineman Will Clapp, and running back Daniel Lasco. Elliss is the only player currently under contract, while Clapp is a restricted free agent.

And here’s the updated list of Saints draft picks in 2021. The NFL has not released an official full draft order yet, so this is a projection that could change slightly:

Round 1, Pick 28
Round 2, Pick 60
Round 3, Pick 99 (compensatory)
Round 3, Pick 106 (compensatory)
Round 4, Pick 134
Round 6, Pick 218 (compensatory)
Round 7, pick TBD (Jaguars trade)

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Seahawks get 4 spots on NFL’s list of top 100 catches of 2020

The Seattle Seahawks notched four spots on the NFL’s list of the 100 greatest catches of the 2020 season, three by Lockett and one by Moore.

The NFL recently released their list of the 100 greatest catches of the 2020 season, and the Seattle Seahawks had four plays that notched spots on it.

Wide receiver Tyler Lockett had three of the four, while fellow WR David Moore got the other.

Lockett’s touchdown reception against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 11 clocked in at No. 90, and two of his 15 receptions in Week 7 against the same team got in the upper half; his one-handed catch over Patrick Peterson came in at No. 49, and his toe-dragging touchdown to make the score 34-24 got No. 43.

However, the biggest of all was Moore’s 38-yard touchdown catch in Week 2 against the New England Patriots to give the Seahawks a 21-17 lead, a reception that had a particularly notable stat attached to it.

Russell Wilson & David Moore's 38-yard TD had just a 6.3% Completion Probability, the 2nd-most improbable completion since 2018.

Moore had 0.8 yards of separation from Jason McCourty and was 0.4 yards away from the sideline when the pass arrived.#NEvsSEA | #Seahawks pic.twitter.com/q3scdUDOhi

— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 21, 2020

You can watch the video of the entire list here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKQ914aL-s0&feature=youtu.be

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Top 15 Free Agents to Watch in Sunday’s playoff games

The Tampa Bay Bucs have the majority of Top 20 free agents of Sunday’s competitors. The Browns? They only check in once. Still, Day 2 of the divisional round presents 50% more top free agents than Saturday’s tilts.

The NFL Divisional Round continues on Sunday with two more games on tap. After victories by No. 1 NFC seed Green Bay and No. 2 AFC seed Buffalo, home teams prevailed to restore order to a funky road-team-rules 2020 campaign and align half of the NFL’s Final Four bracket.

Squaring off to finalize the affair will be defending champion Kansas City looking to fend off the upstart Cleveland Browns, with the New Orleans Saints hosting their division rivals, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the nightcap. While fans of these four organizations watch with bated breath, the rest of the league’s followers are hoping for good, competitive games. They also should be watching to see the performances of players who could make their way to the fans’ favorite team. The free agent market will once again be on display.

Here’s a guide as to which higher-profile players who will be unrestricted free agents come March and the new league year, are playing in the two Sunday contests. We’re using Pro Football Focus’ Top 100 free agents list to compile this collection and for the writeups. Some of these targets may even be of interest to the Cowboys.

Chiefs activate LB Anthony Hitchens, DE Mike Danna from reserve/COVID-19 list

Some help on the defensive side of the ball for the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Kansas City Chiefs will get some defensive reinforcements ahead of their divisional-round game against the Cleveland Browns.

According to the NFL’s official transactions report, the Chiefs have activated LB Anthony Hitchens and DE Mike Danna from the reserve/COVID-19 list. Hitchens tweeted last week, indicating that he’d returned to the team facility and would be back from the reserve/COVID-19 list. Danna was only recently placed on the list after being confirmed as a high-risk close contact to someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

The return of Hitchens is big news for the Chiefs. He was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Dec. 22 and missed Week 16 against the Falcons and Week 17 against the Chargers as a result. He’s typically the defensive signal-caller for the team. He wears the green dot and in his absence, the team had relied on Ben Niemann and Darius Harris to relay the play call’s to the defense. Hitchens has also been heralded as the “glue guy” on defense. He makes all the individual units work together and play at their best.

Danna’s return is important for Kansas City too. He’s been a crucial part of the defensive line rotation, even as a rookie. One area where he’s been most impressive is his ability to set the edge in the run game, something that will be tested during the divisional playoff matchup against a Browns team that possesses a strong running game.

In a corresponding move, the team waived WR Gehrig Dieter, who was signed to the 53-man roster for Week 17. Expect Dieter to be re-signed to the practice squad in the coming days assuming he clears waivers.

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