Tag: roster needs

[jwplayer PCTDOkel-ThvAeFxT]

The New Orleans Saints are sprinting into the 2020 offseason plenty of hurdles ahead of them. Some of those are easier to leap than others; the club has an established template for how to handle their next contract extension with Drew Brees, while there are in-house promotions available should free agents like David Onyemata or Vonn Bell get snapped up on the open market. If Teddy Bridgewater doesn’t return to back up Brees, some free agent quarterbacks could draw attention, while Taysom Hill’s status as a restricted free agent could help the Saints recoup draft assets should he leave for a new team. The Saints can also make some spending room by releasing players whose salary cap hits don’t match their performance.

But what moves do the Saints need to make? They should consider adding a starting-quality left guard to replace oft-injured Andrus Peat, bringing in a legitimate receiving threat opposite Michael Thomas (preferably a shifty run-after-catch threat in the slot, recalling Willie Snead and Lance Moore), adding depth at cornerback and possibly upgrading the defensive front seven. Honestly, that’s a piece of cake compared to past Saints offseasons.

So we’re going to look into the crystal ball and take a couple of stabs at what the Saints offseason may look like. We’ll assume that the Saints work out various contract extensions, restructures, and pay cuts with various players while inking that all-important Brees extension, resulting in an estimated $16 million to work with in free agency. No team is as creative in its salary cap manipulation as the Saints, and they’re sure to introduce new tricks we can’t even fathom to make necessary upgrades and additions.

Thanks for sticking with us through that explainer; the potential offseason strategies we’ve come up with won’t get so into the weeds of specific contract structures. We can’t hit on every tertiary need (like a backup tight end, or new fullback or long snapper) but these summaries do give an idea of the biggest moves that could be made.

1. Extend cornerback Janoris Jenkins (lowering his $11.25 million cap hit), cut linebacker Kiko Alonso (saving $7.85 million), sign New England Patriots guard Joe Thuney, sign Detroit Lions wide receiver Danny Amendola, and draft Oklahoma linebacker Kenneth Murray at No. 24
2. Cut Jenkins (saving $11.25 million), get Alonso to take a pay cut, re-sign cornerback Eli Apple, sign Buffalo Bills guard Quinton Spain, sign Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Randall Cobb, draft Florida cornerback C.J. Henderson in the first round
3. Extend Jenkins, sign Detroit Lions guard Graham Glasgow, re-sign defensive tackle David Onyemata, draft a wide receiver in the first round (such as Jalen Reagor, Tee Higgins, Laviska Shenault, or Justin Jefferson) and a cornerback in the third round (like Louisiana Tech’s Amik Robertson)
4. Let Onyemata and left guard Andrus Peat walk, cut Nick Easton (saving $4 million), cut Patrick Robinson (saving $3.65 million), re-sign safety Vonn Bell and play C.J. Gardner-Johnson in the slot, promote Shy Tuttle to start at defensive tackle, sign Washington Redskins guard Brandon Scherff, draft a receiver in the first round and a linebacker in the third (like Appalachian State’s Akeem Davis-Gaither)
5. Cut Jenkins and Alonso, trade 2021’s second-round pick and swap 2020 third rounders for Detroit Lions cornerback Darius Slay, sign Quinton Spain, draft a cornerback in the first round and use Detroit’s third-round pick on a wide receiver (options: Collin Johnson, Van Jefferson, K.J. Hill)

[vertical-gallery id=28853]