Tag: Saints

Former Saints linebacker Craig Robertson announces his retirement

Former Saints linebacker Craig Robertson announces his retirement after nine years in the NFL:

Craig Robertson may have started his NFL career with the Cleveland Browns, but he’s making sure to retire with the New Orleans Saints. Robertson appeared in 78 games for New Orleans from 2016 to 2020, and on Friday he announced his retirement from playing professional football from the team facility accompanied by his family and Saints head coach Dennis Allen.

Allen was complimentary of Robertson’s influence on the team, saying that he, “was really part of the foundation of building the culture in the way that we wanted to operate defensively.”

Robertson lived and breathed Saints football, initially starting on defense during the 2016 and 2017 seasons before accepting a role focused on special teams in 2018. He spent the next couple of years covering punts and kickoffs and was known for his energetic presence on the sidelines.

Now, the 34-year-old father of four can shift gears again and focus his attention on the next phase in his life. He said that some teams struck by COVID-19 absences reached out during the 2021 season, when he was a free agent, but he preferred to wait for the right time to hang up his cleats as a Saint. Robertson added, “I’m a family man now.”

Good for Robertson on going out on his own terms. The Saints won so many games the last few years because of the work he and players like him put in despite being buried on the depth chart. His contributions are worth celebrating.

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Alvin Kamara restructures his contract, gets the Saints closer to salary cap compliance

The Saints restructured their contract with Alvin Kamara, helping them get closer to salary cap compliance ahead of free agency, via @RossJacksonNOLA:

Starting the offseason $76 million over the NFL’s salary cap would be stressful for any team but the New Orleans Saints. Throughout the last two weeks, the Saints have restructured several contracts in order to work their way to salary cap compliance, and the work continued this morning. According to reports, the Saints have opened up another $8.372 million by restructuring running back Alvin Kamara’s contract.

In doing so, New Orleans converted his $6 million roster bonus and $4.465 million of his base salary (which is now at the veteran minimum: $1.035 million) into a signing bonus and adding a void year in 2026. This move drops Kamara’s $14.5 million cap hit to just $6.128 million.

Doing this will also ensure that Kamara sees the majority of his year’s pay up front even in the case of a potential suspension. In that way, this could be seen as both a player and team-friendly move. Kamara was arrested in Las Vegas last month following an alleged altercation. The court hearing for his Las Vegas battery case has been pushed back to April 25.

The Saints should now be hovering between $20 to $25 million over the cap now with some hefty restructures left in their pockets. The Saints could save over $18 million by restructuring Marshon Lattimore’s contract and up to $7 million with a restructure to Taysom Hill’s deal. After that, any additional moves such as a potential extension or release of cornerback Bradley Roby, would begin to open up spending money beyond cap compliance.

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Saints should save La’el Collins from the Cowboys’ sinking ship

With Terron Armstead headed for free agency, the Saints should strike a deal with the Cowboys for starting tackle La’el Collins, via @RossJacksonNOLA:

The NFL trade market has been very active so far this week with quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Carson Wentz as well as as edge rusher Khalil Mack all changing teams. Early in the offseason, experts believed that the New Orleans Saints would be active pursuing a quarterback via trade but that has yet to materialize. However, the Saints could look to make a trade at a different position ahead of free agency to help to protect their next signal caller and in doing so could bring former LSU Tiger La’el Collins back to Louisiana. Collins is the subject of active trade talks in Dallas.

Perhaps that’s not the New Orleans-Dallas Cowboys trade many expected with Sean Payton having stepped away this offseason. But the Saints are at risk of losing cornerstone left tackle Terron Armstead in free agency next week. Armstead is expected to possibly command north of $22 million per year on the market. If that’s so, there are not many viable replacement options in free agency. The Saints could instead look to reorganize their offensive line by moving Ryan Ramczyk to left tackle and filling the hole at right tackle with a newcomer instead. Collins, and his team-friendly contract, could be an option as a bookend.

New Orleans does have veteran James Hurst they could fall back on as well, but perhaps there would be some value in keeping Hurst as the swing lineman or even allowing him compete on the inside for a role there. While the Saints seem interested in seeing if Cesar Ruiz improves under new offensive line coach Doug Marrone, a little competition could help push the third-year guard.

Meanwhile, the Saints could possibly obtain Collins for an early day three selection. New Orleans is expected to have two fourth round picks, their original and a compensatory pick from last year’s free agent loss Trey Hendrickson. It’s possible that the former could be enough to bring Collins to New Orleans where he’d be an easy plug and play starter on the right side.

In 2021, Collins appeared in 13 games while Ramczyk appeared in 10. The two right tackles logged similar zone run snap shares according to Pro Football Focus. Collins with 49.6% and Ramczyk with 52.4% They both also scored highly with their zone run run blocking grades at 77.6 and 82.7 respectively. Collins and Ramczyk were also both ranked in the top ten in PFF’s run blocking grades.

If Dennis Allen’s goal of being a team that wins at the line of scrimmage with a successful run game comes to fruition in 2022, Collins would be an excellent option. His financials would be easy to work with this year as well. With a $10 million base salary in each of the next three years, his contract is begging to be restructured.

A simple restructure could knock that down to the veteran minimum $1.035 million in 2022. With three years left on his deal, the remaining $8.965 million could be spread out as a signing bonus. In that case, Collins would cost only $4.02 millions against the cap this year, allowing the Saints to save upwards of $5.98 million from his original price tag while adding a new starter on an offensive line hoping to rebound this year.

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Saints’ deals with Cameron Jordan, Carl Granderson set up the plan at DE

Cameron Jordan’s restructure makes it all but certain he’ll play his career out in black and gold, while Carl Granderon’s extension tees up their next move at defensive end:

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This is interesting: ESPN’s Field Yates reported that the New Orleans Saints re-signed defensive end Carl Granderson, one of their exclusive rights free agents, but he later added that Granderson inked a two-year deal with the Saints rather than a typical one-year contract extension. That means he’ll be with New Orleans through 2022 and 2023, finally reaching unrestricted free agency in 2024.

That’s significant for a couple of different reasons, which we’ll get to in a second. Yates clarified that the Saints paid Granderson $4.3 million in addition to the $965,000 he qualified for as an exclusive rights free agent — that’s equal to what a second-round restricted free agent tender could be worth next year. So why did they do that?

For one, the Saints have now given Granderson a clear idea of how strongly they value him. If he had become a restricted free agent in 2023, they would have tendered him at that level. He’s ascending in their pass-rush rotation, and they think he’s about to have a great two-year stretch. For another, Granderson’s teammates Marcus Davenport and Tanoh Kpassagnon are each entering the final year of their contracts with the Saints, meaning they’ll hit free agency in 2023. This effectively means New Orleans has two fires to put out in 2023 rather than three.

But why sign him to a two-year extension rather than a three-year deal? That may benefit the team more if they view Granderson as a player on the rise, getting him under contract at a bargain, but it’s in Granderson’s interest to reach unrestricted free agency sooner rather than later. That’s where he is likely to find his biggest payday. So while he may appreciate the security in a three-year deal, his path to earning significantly more money makes a two-year deal more preferable. This suggests he and the Saints reached a compromise.

This wasn’t the only move the Saints made at defensive end on Thursday, though. Cameron Jordan restructured his contract to lower his salary cap hit from $23.1 million to just over $12.4 million, saving roughly $10.7 million against the cap. Jordan will still get that money — this isn’t a pay cut. Instead, he agreed to lower his base salary from $13.6 million to the minimum at $1.12 million, earning the difference back as a signing bonus. He gets his money now instead of later. And the Saints, for accounting purposes, get to defer those payments against the cap onto future years.

Thanks for sticking through that jargon (I never warned you there would be math). The end result is that Jordan will play for the Saints in 2022 at a lower price, and he’s now likely to finish his career in black and gold. New Orleans would still be paying him more than $23 million to not play for them in 2023 should he be released or traded next offseason. They could wait until after June 1, 2023 to move him (saving $15 million) but that would put a serious handicap on their cap flexibility during free agency and the draft.

So we should expect another move with Jordan next offseason in one way or another. An extension feels more likely than another restructure. Jordan’s contract is set to expire on March 12, 2024, making him a 35-year-old free agent and leaving more than $12.7 million behind in dead money. The Saints could sign him to a smaller-valued, multiyear extension that allows him to run up the score on the team sacks record (he currently trails the great Rickey Jackson by 8) that won’t weight down their salary cap figure once his playing days are over.

Then again, the Saints have accepted $11.5 million dead money charges for Drew Brees in both 2021 and 2022. And they’re set up to take another $12.9 million hit should Terron Armstead leave in free agency next week. If they don’t touch Jordan’s contract again (unlikely as that seems), his eventual dead money charge of $12.7 million does fall within the zone they’ve shown is acceptable. Let’s hope it doesn’t get to that, though.

That isn’t all, though. The Saints also restructured their quarterback with Tanoh Kpassagnon to save a little over $1.6 million. Because his contract already had some void years sewn into it, he’s now on pace to leave behind about $1.9 million should he leave in free agency next offseason. For context, he will have played on cap hits of $1.1 million and $1.5 million in two years with New Orleans. I would think an extension is in store to avoid paying him more not to play with the Saints, but that’s a bridge they plan to cross another day.

And this all surrounds the intrigue on Marcus Davenport, who is currently playing on his fifth year option and set to become a free agent next March just like Kpassagnon. Maybe the Saints don’t touch his contract, and prefer to let him play it out before discussing an extension. Maybe they restructure him like they did with past first rounders Marshon Lattimore (who later signed an extension anyway) and Sheldon Rankins (who didn’t). But in restructuring Jordan and extending Granderson, they have something to work with should Davenport end up leaving New Orleans once his contract expires. It’s important to remember that none of these moves are made in isolation. Everything influences something else.

So, to recap, here is where the Saints stand at defensive end going into the 2022 season, and when those players will be up for new deals:

  • Tanoh Kpassagnon: under contract through March 7, 2023
  • Marcus Davenport: under contract through March 15, 2023
  • Carl Granderson: under contract through March 13, 2024
  • Cameron Jordan: under contract through March 12, 2024
  • Payton Turner: under contract through March 12, 2025 (pending his fifth-year option)

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4-round Saints mock draft takes an unconventional approach to retooling the roster

This 4-round Saints mock draft from @RossJacksonNOLA takes an unconventional approach to retooling the roster, starting with first-round Oklahoma DT Perrion Winfrey:

With five picks expected in the first four rounds of the 2022 NFL draft, the New Orleans Saints have more than enough capital to get an early jump on retooling their roster. In this mock draft, our focus will be on taking an unconventional approach, waiting to find an impactful wide receiver in the middle rounds and addressing some remaining needs after a quiet but efficient free agency period. Let’s start with the parameters ahead of this four-round Saints mock draft:

Saints re-sign backup defensive linemen Carl Granderson, Jalen Dalton

The Saints re-signed backup defensive linemen Carl Granderson and Jalen Dalton, maintaining depth ahead of free agency:

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Here are a couple of good moves: ESPN’s Field Yates reported Thursday that the New Orleans Saints re-signed a couple of important backups along the defensive line, retaining edge rusher Carl Granderson and interior lineman Jalen Dalton. That’s going to be key for keeping the defensive line a strength of the team moving into 2022, and it’s presenting an opportunity for them to do well as free agents in 2023 after playing on one-year deals. Both contracts should clock in at around $895,000 in value.

Dalton, 24, has had two terrific training camps with New Orleans but suffered a season-ending biceps injury in subsequent seasons. He’s done a great job of bullying his teammates on the other side of the ball and flashed during the 2021 preseason prior to his injury. Hopefully he enjoys better health this summer and can make some noise in the Saints’ interior line rotation behind David Onyemata. Other players on the depth chart include Malcolm Roach, Albert Huggins, and Braxton Hoyett. Shy Tuttle and Christian Ringo are free agents.

And Granderson, 25, has been an effective backup to Cameron Jordan and Marcus Davenport with 8 sacks and 16 quarterback hits over the last two seasons. He’s developed well as a complimentary pass rusher for New Orleans to throw at winded offensive linemen late in games. With Tanoh Kpassagnon returning on a restructured deal and 2021 first round pick Payton Turner looking to make a splash after an injury-plagued rookie year, Granderson needs to take another step and separate from the pack.

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Saints create more cap space with Cameron Jordan, Tanoh Kpassagnon contract restructures

The New Orleans Saints saved more salary cap space through additional contract restructures with Cameron Jordan and Tanoh Kpassagnon, via @RossJacksonNOLA:

With the new league year right around the corner, the New Orleans Saints continue to chip away at their salary cap overages. They began the offseason approximately $76 million over the league’s limit, but took a big step toward compliance with restructures to Michael Thomas, Ryan Ramczyk, and Andrus Peat’s deals. Now, the Saints take another step forward by restructuring the contracts of defensive ends Cameron Jordan and Tanoh Kpassagnon.

According to ESPN’s Field Yates, the moves will free up an additional $12,445,412. This should leave the Saints over the cap by somewhere around $32 million. Contract restructures are a common offseason tool used by the New Orleans front office. General manager Mickey Loomis and vice president of football operations Khai Harley often have these mechanisms built into contracts well ahead of the reorientation of a player’s base salary or bonuses.

The Saints still have several simple restructures they can turn to as they get under the NFL’s salary cap limit before the new league year begins on March 16. Some of those options include offensive weapon Taysom Hill, cornerback Marshon Lattimore (whose contract could open up over half of the remaining overages), and running back Alvin Kamara.

New Orleans could also get crafty with the fifth-year option of defensive end Marcus Davenport, much like they did with Lattimore’s option last season and Sheldon Rankins’ a year earlier. With Davenport being an extension candidate in the near future, pushing some of his fifth-year option guarantees into future years would not be a bad option.

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Saints passing game coordinator Ronald Curry is a rising star in NFL coaching circles

Saints passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ronald Curry is a rising star in NFL coaching circles, via @RossJacksonNOLA:

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One of the many coaching staff moves made by the New Orleans Saints this offseason was expanding quarterbacks coach Ronald Curry’s responsibilities with the title of passing game coordinator. Curry has been on the Saints coaching staff since 2016 where he started as an offensive assistant working with wide receivers. Every year since, he’s moved to a new role on an upward trajectory that looks to be priming him to step into an offensive coordinator position in the next few years.

Before Curry began his ascension through coaching ranks (first with the San Francisco 49ers in 2015) he was a two-sport star athlete of legend for the UNC Tar Heels. He was a dual-threat quarterback who passed for 4,987 yards while rushing for 1,249. He also added 41 career combined touchdowns with 35 interceptions and a 113.1 career passer rating. This was all while undergoing several coaching changes including three offensive coordinators. He set records for most career passing yards and total yards and was named MVP of the 1998 Las Vegas Bowl and later the 2001 Peach Bowl.

All of that was on the gridiron. Curry also played guard for the Tar Heels basketball team where he averaged 20.6 minutes per game with 4.2 points and 3.0 assists per contest as well.

His success stretches all the way back to high school, too. Curry is still regarded as one of the greatest Virginia high school football players of all time. As a quarterback he led his Hampton High School squad to three straight state championships, shattering several records along the way. He also helped lift Hampton’s basketball team to a state title in 1998. That’s four straight years of state titles in which that Curry took huge part. He was so good, that fellow Virginia native and arguably one of the best to play quarterback in the NFL Michael Vick has always given him praise.

After Curry’s high school and collegiate success, his career took a turn in the NFL. After being drafted by the then-Oakland Raiders in the seventh round of the 2002 NFL draft as a quarterback, Curry moved to wide receiver before his second season. He got off to a fast start with 50 catches for 679 yards that season, but unfortunately suffered an Achilles injury that ended his first year at wideout prematurely.

After working his way back in 2005, when Achilles injuries had a much higher rate of re-injury than we have seen in the NFL recently, he suffered the same tear in the second week of the season. After that, Curry continued to fight his way back having some shining moments including 16-game appearances in 2006 and 2007 wherein each he reeled in over 700 receiving yards on 55 or more catches. But ultimately, his run with Oakland came to an end in 2008 and despite signing with the Detroit Lions and then-St. Louis Rams, he wouldn’t find the field again.

Soon after things didn’t pan out with the Rams, Curry lathed on to a high school coaching opportunity before starting his NFL trajectory. That decision has since paid off as he’s on a meteoric rise within the New Orleans Saints coaching staff. After starting as an offensive assistant in 2016, he was moved up to a wide receivers coach in 2018, to quarterbacks coach in 2021, and now adds passing game coordinator to that title here in 2022.

In 2021, Curry helped to prepared four different starting quarterbacks to take the field for the Saints: Jameis Winston, Trevor Siemian, Taysom Hill, and rookie Ian Book. According to Book, who will go into his second year with Curry in 2022, Curry took him under his wing and has been a sizable influence on him.

“I felt like I was his guy,” Book told me at Radio Row before the Super Bowl in Los Angeles, “He took me under his wing immediately. He was always willing to work with me extra hours, which was awesome for me. I needed someone like that.”

Curry’s playing career has been a huge benefit for the quarterbacks and wideouts he’s coached as well. Book credited his playing experience not just at all levels, but at multiple positions for the excitement he feels to work with Curry again in 2022. The New Orleans Saints website lauds the seven-year coach for his 2018 and 2019 work with the record-breaking Michael Thomas:

“In 2019, Curry helped Thomas shatter the NFL’s receptions record and club receiving yardage records as he posted 149 receptions for 1,725 yards and nine touchdowns as he was selected Associated Press NFL Offensive Player of the Year. He was selected as an AP first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl starter for the second consecutive season.

In 2018, Thomas recorded a NFL-best 125 grabs for 1,405 yards and nine touchdowns. He also developed third-round pick Smith, who was named NFL Rookie of the Week after a ten reception, 157-yard, one touchdown performance in Week 11.”

Now, as quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator, it will be Curry’s responsibility to coordinate a passing attack by not only working with the signal callers, but the pass catchers again as well. A role that Curry has shown comfort in not just in New Orleans, but also working with a legendary receiver like Anquan Bolden. With Curry’s help, Bolden topped 1,000 yards receiving two straight seasons (2013-14) becoming the first 49er to pass that mark since Terrell Owens.

The fast pace at which Curry is climbing is of no surprise to anyone paying attention to former Saints head coach Sean Payton over the years. In December of 2020, Payton described the qualities of a successful head coach with NFL Network correspondents Steve Wyche and Jim Trotter on their Huddle and Flow podcast.

Payton told Wyche and Trotter that being a good teacher, communicator, and expert of the craft are atop his list when looking at coaching success. He also specifically referenced the need for a coach to be authentic. Perfectly timed as Payton, Wyche, and Trotter were having a candid conversation around the the NFL’s hiring practices which Payton called “awful” relative to the hiring of coaches of color. A cycle in which Curry could one day find himself wrapped up someday soon.

Those three qualities are evident in Book’s praise of Curry. From staying extra hours to work with him to Curry’s experience at all levels of the game and multiple positions, it is easy to see why Payton and the Saints have seen promise Curry has to offer. Payton highlighted that further when multiple New Orleans media members caught up with him in Los Angeles during Super Bowl week.

“Ronald’s the best,” Payton told me in our walk and talk. “He’s done a great job. I’ve been with him for a while, you know? He’s one of those rare two-sport athletes. North Carolina football, basketball. He’s a tremendous person and someone that was a big help to us and helped us win a lot of games.”

In an offseason in which so many questions have been raised around the potential of black head coaching candidates in the NFL thanks to Brian Flores’s challenging of the league’s hiring practices, it worth a moment to take stock in the talent across all 32 teams.

In particular, the New Orleans Saints have helped to introduce names to the running not only at head coach, but also with front office executives like Terry Fontenot, now general manager of the Atlanta Falcons, and cap guru Khai Hartley who is expected to see similar opportunities soon. Even former position coaches like Aaron Glenn are being called the “new leader” in the Black head coach search. Glenn interviewed for the Saints’ head coaching job this past offseason.

If all goes well, the Saints could help to launch the career trajectory of Curry in a similar direction. Possibly newly-hired wide receivers coach Kodi Burns after that. Curry’s next step should be offensive coordinator in coming years. Whether that’s with New Orleans or another lucky team remains to be seen. But as passing game coordinator this season, he’ll gather an intimate knowledge of how to build an offense right beside offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael. After that, the sky’s the limit for coach Curry.

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Saints land a top-tier receiver in Todd McShay’s mock draft

The Saints landed a top-tier wide receiver in Todd McShay’s latest 2022 NFL mock draft:

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We’re more than a month away from the 2022 NFL draft, but some consensus is beginning to build for expert takes on where the New Orleans Saints may go in the first round. Wide receivers run deep in this draft class and the Saints are frequently projected to take one of the best pass catchers available. In his latest mock draft for ESPN, Todd McShay has the Saints acquiring Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Chris Olave. Here’s what he wrote of the match:

“Quarterback is super tempting, especially with Liberty’s Malik Willis still sitting on the board. We know Taysom Hill isn’t the answer, but I do think Jameis Winston goes back to New Orleans in free agency and puts at least a short-term solve on the Saints’ signal-caller woes. But who is he throwing to? Michael Thomas hasn’t been able to stay healthy, and two of the team’s top three wide receivers from 2021 — Tre’Quan Smith and Deonte Harris — are free agents. Olave, meanwhile, is a silky smooth runner with 4.39 speed and great acceleration — and he scored at least once in nine of 11 games last season. Winston (or whoever ends up under center) would immediately have a reliable downfield target.”

I can only speak for myself, but to me Olave is the best receiver in this draft class. His college resume is unimpeachable: he appeared in 38 games, scoring 35 touchdowns and catching 175 receptions for 2,702 receiving yards. He led the Buckeyes in receiving yards in 2019 and 2020, with teammates Garrett Wilson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba benefiting from the attention he demanded defenses commit to him in 2021.

And that production was paired with a solid performance at the NFL scouting combine in which Olave timed the 40-yard dash in 4.39 seconds. He’s not the biggest or most explosive receiver around, but the work he’s put in to refining his routes and his straight-line speed make him a threat to score on every down. Olave hasn’t posted the extreme Relative Athletic Score that lines up with New Orleans’ standards, but he’s awful close (and he hasn’t finished testing), so don’t overthink it.

That’s an ideal pairing for Michael Thomas, who has done his best work underneath the coverage as an automatic first down conversion for his quarterbacks. With defenses focused on guarding Thomas, Olave can fly downfield. When they respond to Olave’s presence Thomas gets more room to work with. Both players win, and it’s worth remembering the relationship Thomas is already cultivating with Olave as a mentor.

But, hey, it’s March. Free agency hasn’t begun yet. We don’t know what the Saints’ top team needs will look like on draft day. If they add a couple of receivers in free agency, the position becomes a luxury and Olave, or any other pass catcher, may not be considered once New Orleans is on the clock. Maybe the Saints start to look harder at quarterbacks, safeties, or left tackles should Jameis Winston, Marcus Williams, or Terron Armstead leave for better opportunities. We’ve still got a ways to go.

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Saints don’t issue franchise tag to either Marcus Williams or Terron Armstead

The Saints didn’t issue the franchise tag to either Marcus Williams or Terron Armstead before Tuesday’s deadline, meaning both will reach free agency:

This was expected, but it still feels odd for the New Orleans Saints to be in this position. Tuesday’s franchise tag deadline came and went without the Saints applying the tag to any of their pending free agents, meaning star safety Marcus Williams and stud left tackle Terron Armstead will likely both reach the open market. And there’s a very good chance neither of them return to New Orleans after weighing offers from other teams.

It’s not ideal. It isn’t great. To put it bluntly, this is a major problem that could have been avoided a long time ago if the Saints had signed both players to extensions as soon as they were eligible as opposed to waiting until the eleventh hour. Losing an All-Pro left tackle and a 25-year-old ballhawk safety is going to hurt them on both sides of the ball.

But hey, maybe we’re putting the cart before the horse here. It’s possible Armstead or Williams don’t get the big offers we’re all expecting and ultimately return to New Orleans. It’s a long shot, but stranger things have happened. Once the Saints decided to not use the tag, letting each player get an idea of their market value — illustrating exactly how much they have to gain in moving on from New Orleans — is the best path forward. If they end up bolting, well, that’s the risk you’ve chosen to take.

As for other franchise tag recipients around the NFL:

  • Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams
  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin
  • Jacksonville Jaguars left tackle Cam Robinson
  • Kansas City Chiefs left tackle Orlando Brown Jr.
  • Cincinnati Bengals safety Jessie Bates III
  • Miami Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki
  • Dallas Cowboys tight end Dalton Schultz
  • Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku

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