Former Giants cornerback Janoris Jenkins has been claimed off waivers by the Saints. With that, they’ll take on one of the league’s top cornerback talents, the ~$1.2MM still owed to the veteran for 2019, and, perhaps, some backlash.
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The Giants cut Jenkins last week after he used a slur for the mentally challenged and issued an apology that fell short with many. Controversy aside, he represents an enormous upgrade in the secondary – the kind of addition that is rarely, if ever, found in the late states of the regular season.
Jenkins will not be eligible to play tonight, when the Saints take on the Colts. Instead, the claim will be deferred, technically speaking, until next week, when the Saints take on the Titans.
The Saints are looking to Jenkins for coverage help as they gear up for a Super Bowl run and an attempt to lock down a first-round bye. His former team, meanwhile, is ticketed for the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 draft.
Jenkins is also under contract for 2020, though the $11.25MM he’s slated to earn next year is completely non-guaranteed. With that in mind, this profiles as a low-risk/high-reward scenario for the Saints.
The Texans and Chiefs were named as potential landing spots for the 31-year-old, but the Saints came away with the one-time Pro Bowler. Jackrabbit will now look to add on to his 84 tackles and four interceptions (already a career high) in 2019.
In addition to the Jenkins claim, the Saints promoted CB T.J. Green and DT Taylor Stallworth from the practice squad, placed CB Johnson Bademosi on IR, and waived DT T.Y. McGill.
Darn. Was hoping the 49ers would jump on him for the rest of this season and cut ties to save money next year. Saints are stacking up.
Not sure of the Chiefs’ logic here.
The Suggs signing is most likely a blocking maneuver over the Ravens, at best.
This guy could make a noticeable difference on the defense… and would definitely show up with 100% effort, unlike Suggs.
Why claim Suggs, and then pass on Jenkins?
I guess it must have been one doozy of a racial slur. The Chiefs already offend some Native Americans with their name so who cares what he said, he didn’t throw anyone down a flight of stairs or beat a woman, so they should have selected him.
No no no. Native American dont give a rats ass about american politics. When people talk about redskins and indians being offensive, its snowflake white old people.
Jenkins did not use a racial slur. He said the ‘R-word’ (look it up if you need to), but it was just an excuse to release him. His skills have diminished and his effort has been questionable at times. They probably would have released him at the end of the season, anyway, as they had tried to trade him before the deadline.
This way, they can release him and avoid any PR hit and appear to take a stand for social justice, or whatever.
Davidkaner… I think you might fit in a little better posting comments about your fantasy football team over on HuffPo, Salon, or Slate.
Their pass defense hasn’t been that bad (ranked 11th in the league in passing yards per game allowed). Their bigger issue has been stopping the run. Besides their loss to the Packers (which they didn’t have Mahomes for) their other losses are to the Colts, Texans, and Titans. In those three games they gave up 180, 192, and 225 rushing yards.
I think another motivating factor in claiming Suggs was so the Ravens couldn’t get him. Besides the fact that Okafor had to be put on IR so there was a bigger need for a pass rusher than another corner.
I agree their pass defense is improved this year. But I think Jenkins is a big step up from their 3rd or 4th CB… probably Charvarious Ward or Mo Claiborne. One lacks experience, the other is in decline.