Will the Saints make another run at signing recently-cut Josh Norman?

The New Orleans Saints tried to sign Josh Norman once before, and he’s now available again after the Washington Redskins reportedly cut him.

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The Washington Redskins are reportedly releasing veteran cornerback Josh Norman, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. Norman was due more than $15 million against the 2020 salary cap, but his sagging level of play made it unlikely that he would reunite with new head coach Ron Rivera, who worked with him on the Carolina Panthers earlier in Norman’s career.

It creates an interesting situation for the New Orleans Saints, for several reasons. Norman only signed with Washington in the first place simply because they beat the Saints to the punch — New Orleans was the second team to approach Norman about joining them when the Panthers rescinded the franchise tag back in 2016. Saints recruiting efforts had reached contract restructuring discussions with Drew Brees to make room for Norman beneath the salary cap before he ultimately chose to move to D.C.

However, Norman is a very different player now than he was then. He’s 32 and coming off one of his worst years as a pro, having received a Pro Football Focus grade of 45.6; that ranks 111 out of 113 qualifying cornerbacks. If the Saints were to pursue Norman, they would be unlikely to offer him a starting job. He certainly won’t have leverage to ask for significant contract demands.

That said: it’s not impossible to imagine the Saints making a run at him. New Orleans has just three cornerbacks under contract right now, and two of them could be salary cap casualties themselves. Releasing Janoris Jenkins would free up $11.25 million, while cutting Patrick Robinson would make $3.65 million in cap space. The Saints are at a point where they simply need to start adding warm bodies to the depth chart, and it’s no guarantee that starters Eli Apple and P.J. Williams return after testing the free agent market. The Saints have started worse players than Norman, who we have to stress would probably be seen as a backup.

There’s one more wrinkle to consider. Because Norman was released outright, he won’t count against the compensatory draft pick formula for 2021. While the Saints rarely qualify for compensatory picks due to their activity in free agency, their abundance of expiring contracts means they could have a quieter offseason than usual this year. They could check off the “add a veteran cornerback” box on their list of offseason needs by signing Norman and still recoup a draft pick next year should in-house free agents like Teddy Bridgewater or Vonn Bell leave for new teams.

Of course, the argument against signing Norman is that he’s very much near the end of his career. The Saints could use the resources in signing him to add a younger player with a higher ceiling, or bring back someone like Apple or Williams. Just two years ago they believed signing Kurt Coleman in similar circumstances would give the secondary some much-needed experience and playmaking ability on the back end, but he was a liability by midseason. That could be a cautionary tale still fresh in the minds of Saints shot-callers like Sean Payton.

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4 potential Saints salary cap casualties for the 2020 offseason

New Orleans Saints veterans like Janoris Jenkins, Patrick Robinson, Nick Easton, and Mario Edwards could be salary cap casualties in 2020.

There’s no getting around it: the 2020 offseason will be difficult for the New Orleans Saints. They must navigate contract decisions with a number of important free agents, including all three quarterbacks (Drew Brees and Teddy Bridgewater will be unrestricted free agents, while Taysom Hill is designated with restricted status). With the 2020 salary cap expected to settle somewhere around $200 million, the Saints will have between $16 and $20 million to spend. That won’t be enough to keep everyone.

Some restructures should be expected; it’s a staple of the playbook built by Saints general manager Mickey Loomis and salary cap specialist Khai Hartley. But they’ll also have to consider cutting veteran players to curb costs. Here are four potential Saints salary cap casualties.

Janoris Jenkins

Potential savings: $11.25 million

The Saints claimed Jenkins off of waivers in December, inheriting the final year of his New York Giants contract in the process. That agreement carries with it a 2020 salary cap hit of $11.25 million, none of which is guaranteed — yet. Jenkins will be due a $1 million roster bonus on March 16, which would be fully-guaranteed. So the Saints could theoretically release Jenkins before that date and leave no dead money behind; doing so afterwards would leave $1 million in dead money.

That said, cutting Jenkins doesn’t make sense, but it could benefit him and the Saints to add a year or two onto his current deal to spread out the salary cap hits. He played so well in his two starts for New Orleans (ending the Week 17 game Carolina Panthers with an interception, and erasing Stefon Diggs in the the wild-card loss to the Minnesota Vikings) that he should definitely be a part of their plans for 2020.

Keeping Jenkins is even more sensible when you consider Saints cornerbacks Eli Apple and P.J. Williams will test free agency in a few months. Ironically, Apple and Jenkins were once teammates with the Giants — and the Saints declined Apple’s fifth-year option, which would have guaranteed him about $13.6 million for the 2020 season. Instead, Jenkins has taken his starting job.

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Time for the unlucky Saints to get younger

After a third straight heat-breaking playoff loss the New Orleans Saints need to get younger.

Walk down Bourbon Street in New Orleans and you’ll see all sorts of signs about voodoo. They might as well move those signs a mile or so away to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. After all it seems like the New Orleans Saints are cursed.

At least since they won the Super Bowl 10 years ago and especially the last three years. Sunday’s overtime playoff loss to the Minnesota Vikings was just the latest crushing hit to a proud franchise with a rabid fan base. It’s happened in historical fashion.

According to ESPN, the Saints became the first team to have six straight playoff losses by one score and the second team since Green Bay (2013-15) to lose in three straight postseasons on the final play of the game.

Remember the “Minneapolis Miracle’’? Everyone in New Orleans sure does. That was two years ago when Minnesota’s Stefon Diggs caught a walk-off touchdown pass.

Last year was even worse. That was the NFC Championship Game loss to the Los Angeles Rams. In that game, Los Angeles defensive back Nickell Robey-Coleman blatantly interfered with New Orleans receiver Tommylee Lewis on a play that could have put the Saints in the Super Bowl.

Sunday’s loss won’t prompt coach Sean Payton to force any rule changes, the way he convinced the league last year to make pass interference and non-calls reviewable. But the loss to the Vikings wasn’t any less painful than last year. The Saints got stabbed twice in overtime. First, there was a 43-yard pass from Kirk Cousins to Adam Thielen that took the Vikings to the 2-yard line. Cousins followed that with a touchdown pass to tight end Kyle Rudolph to win the game.

So where do the Saints go from here?

“It might get worse before it gets better,’’ a scout for another NFC team said. “They have a lot of older players. People have to understand that they have to get younger and that comes with growing pains. With them, it’s not a total rebuild but they have to get younger in some spots.’’

What spots? Let’s take a look at what the scout suggested the Saints should do this offseason.

Get a young cornerback

“Janoris Jenkins and Patrick Robinson are old,’’ the scout said. “They need to draft a cornerback.’’

Marshon Lattimore is in his prime and Eli Apple, who missed the game with an injury, still has upside. But the Saints need to add a cornerback early in the draft to keep up with the likes of Julio Jones, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin in the NFC South. Adding Janoris Jenkins late in the 2019 season is a stopgap at best.

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