Tag: request

No, Alvin Kamara did not request a trade from the Saints: ‘That’s a lie’

Alvin Kamara took time out of his Saturday to say, no, he did not request a trade from the Saints. He wants to sign an extension and stay in New Orleans:


Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet, even if it comes from a random fantasy football analyst with a couple thousand Twitter followers. Alvin Kamara had to take time out of his college football Saturday to say, no, he did not request a trade from the New Orleans Saints. He’s traveling to Knoxville to see if Tennessee can knock out Alabama again this year.

If anything, Kamara would rather sign an extension to become a Saints lifer. Everything he’s done this year has been in pursuit of that goal. Right now, the Saints are set to cut him in the spring rather than pay the non-guaranteed money left on his contract. He left minicamp early to put pressure on the front office. He didn’t hold out of training camp to make good on his word and support his teammates. He’s actively playing through hand and rib injuries to show he’s committed to helping them win football games.

He wants to stay in New Orleans and be able to say he’s spent his entire career with one team. Even if they’ve fallen into a 2-5 slump with poor coaching, injuries, and poor effort costing them games. If the Saints trade Kamara, it won’t be because he asked them to.

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The Raiders have set their price for a potential Davante Adams trade

ESPN reports the Raiders have set their price for a potential Davante Adams trade. But should the Saints be willing to pay it? Can they even afford him?


ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports the Las Vegas Raiders have set their price for a potential Davante Adams trade. But should the New Orleans Saints be willing to pay it? Just what would it cost them, anyway?

Schefter says the Raiders have told other teams that serious offers would include a second-round draft pick plus “additional compensation,” which can mean different things for different suitors. Maybe a player already under contract gets the deal done. Or maybe the Raiders would settle for a late-round pick in 2025 or 2026.

Those are the details that must be hammered out in conversations between general managers. And it’s worth noting the Saints have three former GM’s advising Mickey Loomis these days. One of them, Dave Ziegler, was the last GM to trade for Adams when he sent a package of first- and second-round picks to the Green Bay Packers a few years ago. Another one, Randy Mueller, said earlier this year he wouldn’t trade a first rounder straight-up for Adams at his current age, but he’d support dealing a conditional second-round pick that could upgrade to a first if the receiver hits various incentives.

One complicating factor? The Saints’ stressful salary cap situation. They’re under the 2024 cap by about $2.7 million right now and would need $13.5 million to fit Adams on their books. They could convince the Raiders to pay part of that salary by trading a better pick than other teams, but that’s a risky strategy. And Loomis is known for taking more risks than his peers given his ironclad job security.

Either way this situation seems to be developing rapidly. Check back for more updates as more information becomes available.

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Would the 49ers accept our Brandon Aiyuk trade offer?

Brandon Aiyuk has requested a trade from the San Francisco 49ers. Would they accept our Saints trade offer? Niners Wire editor Kyle Madson weighed in:

It’s official: Brandon Aiyuk formally requested the San Francisco 49ers trade him to a team willing to pay him what he feels he’s worth. Aiyuk earned a spot on the All-Pro second team last season after posting a career-high 1,342 receiving yards (at a very impressive 17.9 yards per catch), but the 49ers haven’t budged in contract talks or seriously considered offers from other teams. They want him to remain a fixture in Kyle Shanahan’s offense, and at their preferred price point.

Could the New Orleans Saints get involved? They should have a good handle on Aiyuk’s strengths and what makes him tick after they hired one of his coaches to call plays for them this year, and Klint Kubiak would probably enjoy working with him again. But it’s complicated. You have to consider the salary cap commitments as well as the draft capital involved in a potential deal like this. To say nothing of San Francisco’s reluctance to even pick up the phone.

So we collaborated with Niners Wire managing editor Kyle Madson on hypothetical trade talks between the two teams. We made him an offer that feels realistic, and he countered with what he believes the 49ers would be seeking. Here’s how it shook out:

New Orleans gets: WR Brandon Aiyuk

San Francisco gets: 2025 second-round pick, 2026 third-round pick

Madson’s response: “If San Francisco was cool with taking a deal like this, which in a lot of cases is a pretty substantial offer, then Aiyuk likely would’ve been traded during the draft so the 49ers could recoup an asset to help them in 2024. Decent offer from the Saints, but we’re going to decline.”

He then made a counteroffer, proposing a player-for-player swap.

New Orleans gets: WR Brandon Aiyuk, 2025 fourth-round pick

San Francisco gets: WR Chris Olave, 2025 fifth-round pick

Now we’re cooking with gas. It would be painful to give up Olave — he’s one of the team’s young stars — but it almost makes sense when you take a bird’s eye view of the situation. If the Saints are trading for Aiyuk, it’s because they plan to pay him top dollar. And that’s money which would otherwise be earmarked for Olave’s extension once he’s eligible for it in a few years. They’re effectively choosing Aiyuk over Olave anyway, so making him part of the trade to facilitate Aiyuk’s extension is actually kind of coldly rational. Bumping that future draft pick up a round (a 26-slot jump, potentially, based off this year’s draft order) isn’t bad at all.

But would the Saints do this? Almost certainly not. They’ve had opportunities to break the bank in free agency this offseason and they repeatedly chose not to, instead taking small steps towards conventional salary cap management. Sure, they could trade for Aiyuk and fit a hefty contract extension on the books. But that doesn’t mean they should. If they aren’t going in to sign a top-tier defensive tackle like Christian Wilkins (who is earning $27.5 million per year) or trading for a blue-chip defensive end like Brian Burns (who signed a new deal averaging $28.2 million with his new team), they shouldn’t be making those kind of moves at positions like wide receiver. Not when they’re developing a star in Olave who is rapidly approaching the same heights Aiyuk has reached.

A blockbuster trade for Aiyuk would be fun, and it would absolutely raise expectations for this Saints team. It would also be prohibitively expensive. but at a time when the Saints are pinching pennies and trying to get their books in order while counting on a weak division to keep them competitive, it seems more like the stuff of daydreams.

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Mickey Loomis walks back response to Marshon Lattimore trade question

Mickey Loomis walked back his response to questions focusing on a possible Marshon Lattimore trade at Tuesday’s pre-draft press conference:

Just how confident is Mickey Loomis that Marshon Lattimore will be playing for the New Orleans Saints this year? The team’s general manager fielded questions from local media during his pre-2024 draft press conference on Tuesday, and the topic of Lattimore’s status came up.

So how did Loomis react when asked whether he was confident Lattimore would be on the roster this year?

“Yeah,” Loomis said, but when asked if he’d have responded with anything but a positive confirmation, he replied with “What do you think?”

When asked a follow-up question, Loomis tried to tamp it down, saying that he was “trying to avoid” the topic of player availability. But his next observation was a little more telling.

“Everybody is tradeable,” Loomis continued, “It depends on the offer you get. I don’t like trading players that have been contributors. There’s too many variables.”

That sure doesn’t make it sound like the Saints are open for business and shopping Lattimore around. They set the stage for this speculation back in January with a unique contract restructure that made Lattimore’s contract easier to trade, following reports of friction between the team and its star cornerback behind the scenes.

After he averaged 14.6 starts per year with four Pro Bowl appearances in his first five seasons, separate injuries have limited Lattimore to just 17 games over the last two years. Sources within the organization let it be known to the media that they were frustrated with a player they perceived as being injury-prone and slow to recover. Fair or not (we’re inclined to downplay it; a lacerated kidney and sprained ankle have nothing to do with each other), that’s how the relationship began to fray.

So it’s relieving to see that things have settled down now. The trade market for veteran corners is terrible right now and the Saints would be moving Lattimore at a big loss. It’s still possible they could trade him, as Loomis acknowledged, but it doesn’t appear to be as likely as it did a few months ago. We’ll see if that changes on draft day or in the summer months ahead.

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Saints suggested as a good fit for Jets draft bust Zach Wilson

The New Orleans Saints were suggested as a good fit for New York Jets draft bust Zach Wilson. But they shouldn’t trade anything for him:

Where will Zach Wilson play football in 2024? The New York Jets draft bust has been given permission to look for a trade partner, but there haven’t been many takers. With other former first-round quarterbacks changing teams it feels like only a matter of time until Wilson ejects.

It just might be difficult for him to find a parachute first. Throwing 25 interceptions in 33 starts will do a lot to turn off suitors. Despite that, CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin argues that the New Orleans Saints could be interested in Wilson’s services, writing:

There isn’t exactly a strong market for a former top-three pick whose erratic quarterbacking resulted in multiple demotions, but at just 24 with dual-threat traits, Wilson could be a low-risk reclamation project for a contender. The return would almost certainly not exceed that which the Bears or Patriots got for Justin Fields and Mac Jones, respectively. But one thing’s for sure: The Jets have had their fill, with the aging but superior Aaron Rodgers once again back in the saddle.

There are some coaches on staff Wilson knows well like John Benton, the former Jets offensive line coach, and Wilson wouldn’t face as much pressure competing with Jake Haener to back up Derek Carr. He’d be more competitive in that role than Nathan Peterman will be.

But is it worth trading anything for him? Probably not. If the vision is for Haener to knock down whatever punching bag the Saints set in front of him, it makes more sense to sign a player like Peterman on a non-guaranteed minimum salary than to invest draft capital in Wilson (even if it’s nothing more than a late-round pick). And there’s the possibility of Wilson being released outright. If that comes to pass, then it’s worth seeing if Wilson is willing to match Peterman’s modest salary.

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Russell Wilson implored Seahawks to fire Pete Carroll, hire Sean Payton

The Athletic reports that, prior to last year’s blockbuster trade, Russell Wilson implored the Seahawks to fire Pete Carroll and hire Sean Payton:

Here’s some bombshell reporting. The Athletic’s Kalyn Kahler, Mike Sando and Jayson Jenks broke the story on Russell Wilson’s high-stakes split with the Seattle Seahawks last year, and who should make a cameo other than former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton?

The Athletic reports that Wilson implored Seahawks ownership to fire longtime head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider after their frustrating 7-10 finish to the 2021 season, and that he pushed for Seattle to make a run at Payton instead. From the story:

“Wilson and Carroll had clashed in recent years over the quarterback’s role in the offense and the overall direction of a team that had gradually declined after back-to-back Super Bowl appearances. Convinced that Carroll and Schneider were inhibiting his quest to win additional Super Bowls and individual awards, Wilson asked Seahawks ownership to fire both of them, according to league sources who spoke to The Athletic on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the details. Wilson also had a preferred replacement in mind: Sean Payton, who had recently stepped down from the New Orleans Saints.”

It makes sense. Wilson spoke glowingly of Payton over the years and there were rumors even in-season in 2021 that he wanted to work with the former Saints coach. And, of course, Payton eventually ended up with Wilson on the Denver Broncos. It wasn’t going to happen last year, though — Payton wanted to take a year off from football, spurning offers from other teams like the Miami Dolphins (who forfeited a draft pick for tampering with him anyway).

Wilson struggled to get things going with Nathanie Hackett in Denver for a year before Payton eventually made his way to Colorado. So Wilson got his wish. It just didn’t happen in Seattle. For what it’s worth, he quickly issued a denial of the story on social media:

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Dolphins request interview with Saints’ co-defensive coordinator Kris Richard

The Miami Dolphins have requested an interview with New Orleans Saints co-defensive coordinator Kris Richard, who has already met with the Carolina Panthers;

Another interview request has come in for one of the New Orleans Saitns co-defensive coordinators. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that the Miami Dolphins are seeking permission to speak with Kris Richard, who held the co-DC position along with Ryan Nielsen last season. Before that promotion, Richard worked as the secondary coach while Nielsen coached the defensive line.

Richard has been a full-time coordinator before with the Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys, and he’s been overqualified for the role in New Orleans for some time. He recently met with the Carolina Panthers about their defensive coordinator vacancy and it feels like only a matter of time before he moves on to bigger responsibilities.

And because he shares the co-coordinator title with Nielsen, the Saints can’t block Richard from any of these opportunities since it’s technically an advancement. Nielsen has interviewed with both the Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons, too, so there’s a real possibility the Saints lose one or both of them to this hiring cycle. It’s something to monitor in the days ahead.

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Vikings ask to interview Saints co-defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen

The Minnesota Vikings asked to interview New Orleans Saints co-defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen for their own DC vacancy:

The Minnesota Vikings fired defensive coordinator Ed Donatell after their one-and-done playoff appearance, and they aren’t wasting much time searching for his replacement. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Vikings requested an interview with New Orleans Saints co-defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen for the vacancy.

This is the second such request Nielsen has received; the NFC South-rival Atlanta Falcons are also looking to meet with him as a candidate for their defensive coordinator vacancy. Nielsen shared his title with Kris Richard in 2022, who has his own interview request to consider from the Carolina Panthers.

Nielsen has scouted, drafted, and developed most of the Saints defensive line since joining Sean Payton’s staff back in 2017. Nielsen rose to his current role in New Orleans once Dennis Allen was promoted to head coach, and his star has continued to rise in NFL coaching circles. Depending on how his meetings with Minnesota and Atlanta go, he could be on the outs this offseason.

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Panthers request permission to interview Saints co-DC Kris Richard

The Saints could face a unique challenge this offseason if both co-DCs are hired away. The Panthers requested permission to interview Kris Richard, via @RossJacksonNOLA:

So it begins. While a potential offensive coordinator shift is a popular focus for New Orleans Saints fans right now, the team may be forced to undergo a change at defensive coordinator as well. On Monday, the Carolina Panthers requested permission to interview Saints co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach Kris Richard.

Richard has been in New Orleans since the 2021 season when he was brought in to Sean Payton’s staff, replacing former secondary coach Aaron Glenn as he left for the  Detroit Lions’ defensive coordinator job. Richard was then promoted to co-defensive coordinator ahead of this season as Dennis Allen moved into the head coach position.

His cohort Ryan Nielsen is getting a look this offseason too. The news of the Panthers’ request to interview Richard comes hot on the heals of Nielsen being requested by the Atlanta Falcons. Meaning New Orleans could be in line to lose not one, but two defensive coordinators this offseason.

General manager Mickey Loomis made it clear in his end-of-year press conference on Friday that the organization would not stand in the way of their staff getting advancement opportunities elsewhere. That has been typical of New Orleans in the past with examples like the aforementioned Glenn, Lions head coach Dan Campbell, and Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot to name a few.

Per a high-ranking NFL executive, the option for franchises to block these interviews cannot be exercised when a candidate with a “co” title is being offered an opportunity to take on sole ownership of the same role. So even if New Orleans was to try to stand in the way of the advancement of one of these candidates, their options are limited. Short of promoting one of their co-coordinators, which effectively would mean moving on from the other, there is not much the Saints can do here. Instead, an NFC South rival or two could force the team’s hand. Could Richard team up with Payton in Carolina?

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Falcons request interview with Saints’ co-DC Ryan Nielsen

The Falcons requested an interview with the Saints’ co-defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen, an experienced coach who has drafted and developed most of their defensive line:

The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman reports that the Atlanta Falcons have requested an interview with New Orleans Saints co-defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen, an experienced coach who has drafted and developed most of their defensive line since signing with them back in 2017. Falcons defensive coordinator Dean Pees retired after the 2022 season, and they have been actively searching for his successor on head coach Arthur Smith’s staff. Nielsen shared his job title with Kris Richard this year in what turned out to be a disjointed collaboration between the two of them and head coach Dennis Allen.

So Nielsen would probably welcome the opportunity to run his own defense and call his own plays. NFL rules determine that co-coordinators may not be blocked from interviewing for full-time coordinator openings, but New Orleans may have intended to shake things up on their coaching staff regardless of outside interest in their assistants. Sean Payton worked hard to retain Nielsen when the LSU Tigers came calling in the past, but a return to the college ranks is different from a lateral move to a division rival. And Allen isn’t Payton.

This is something to watch. Nielsen is familiar with Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot, who previously worked in the Saints front office when New Orleans hired Nielsen away from his last job at North Carolina State. They both should have an idea of the athletic prototypes and preferences they favor, and this could be an advancement opportunity for Nielsen if he takes the job. Stay tuned for updates on this front.

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