Well this is disappointing, but that’s been the state of New Orleans Saints football for much of the last few years. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler polled dozens of NFL executives, coaches, and scouts to identify the best players at every position this offseason, and on Thursday he shared their rankings for safeties around the league.
And Tyrann Mathieu didn’t make the list. Neither did any of his Saints teammates. Mathieu has been one of their best defenders since he signed in 2022, and he’s intercepted more passes than many of the players ESPN’s sources chose to highlight instead. But there’s more to the game — and getting recognition — than takeaways.
What stings is that several ex-Saints starters were highlighted. Both Marcus Williams and C.J. Gardner-Johnson were featured as honorable mentions. The Saints bungled the situation with Williams back in 2022, having chosen to let breakout pass rusher Trey Hendrickson leave in free agency so they could use the franchise tag on Williams a year earlier, only to fail to sign him long-term. His replacement Marcus Maye was a bust in free agency.
Gardner-Johnson’s situation was more complicated. The Saints were reluctant to play him at free safety, viewing him as a slot specialist, and they refused to pay him like one. His contract dispute turned ugly and he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles for pennies on the dollar. The Eagles didn’t want to pay him, either, even after he thrived in the role he’d coveted. He only appeared in a handful of games with the Detroit Lions last season while dealing with injury but the Eagles missed him so badly they had to re-sign him this offseason.
If the Saints had navigated these situations differently maybe they wouldn’t be in their current state, where either Johnathan Abram or Jordan Howden is expected to start next to Mathieu. Abram hasn’t held down a starting job before and Howden hasn’t been able to dislodge him, so neither are super convincing options. What’s notable is that one player on ESPN’s list is still available as a free agent: Justin Simmons, another honorable mention. We’ve made the case for the Saints to sign him before, but here’s why Fowler’s sources around the league regard him so highly:
Simmons had three interceptions, two forced fumbles and 70 tackles with the Broncos in 2023. “Still really good but not the blue-chip player he was. More of a high-level red at this stage. Still versatile and can play in the post with leadership and smarts,” an NFL personnel evaluator said.
Saints fans aren’t the only ones hoping their team splurges on Simmons. While New Orleans has the salary cap space ($12 million) to compete with other offers, there may be better situations for him to consider on Super Bowl contenders or familiar coaching staffs in other cities. But the point is that the Saints are risking a lot by gambling on an aging Mathieu and a couple of bargain-bin options carrying them at safety. At least one clear upgrade is available. They should consider going after him.
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