New Orleans Saints News & Rumors

Free Agent Stock Watch: Marcus Williams

February 17th, 2021 at 9:17pm CST by Rory Parks

Though he has yet to earn a Pro Bowl nomination, the Saints’ Marcus Williams has established himself as one of the best young safeties in the NFL. A member of New Orleans’ loaded 2017 draft class that also included Marshon Lattimore, Ryan Ramczyk, Alvin Kamara, and Trey Hendrickson, Williams’ presence in the secondary has been instrumental in the Saints’ defensive success over his first four years in the league.

Williams, a free safety, is a prototypical centerfielder and ball-hawker whose one true weakness coming into the 2020 season was his tackling ability. But he made great strides in that regard, as Pro Football Focus charged him with just two missed tackles last year. PFF ranked Williams as the seventh-best safety in the game in 2020, and while it was especially bullish on his run defense, he also scored well in coverage.

Between that and his playmaking abilities — he has recorded 13 interceptions and 30 passes defensed over his first four years in the league — Williams will be a hot commodity if the Saints let him hit the open market. And New Orleans might not have a choice. The club’s salary cap problems have been well-documented, and we heard over the weekend that re-signing Hendrickson — whose 13.5 sacks were the second-most in the NFL last season — may not be possible.

The same goes for Williams. The Utah product will justifiably be aiming for the top of the safety market, which is currently headed by the Cardinals’ Budda Baker‘s $14.75MM average annual value. The Bears’ Eddie Jackson ($14.6MM) and the Titans’ Kevin Byard ($14.1MM) are not too far behind in terms of AAV, and all three players landed guarantees north of $30MM. Theoretically, GM Mickey Loomis could backload a Williams contract in an effort to fit him under the 2021 salary cap, but Loomis will have a number of difficult decisions to make, and even a backloaded deal might be too rich for the Saints at this point.

It seems that the franchise tag, which would carry a projected value of about $10.5MM, is definitely out of the question since the Saints would need to carry that entire amount on their cap in 2021. So if the Saints can’t bring back Williams, where might he end up?

The Raiders are one obvious potential landing spot. Las Vegas recently hired Gus Bradley as its new DC, and Bradley was one of the architects of the Seahawks’ Legion of Boom secondary that saw Earl Thomas playing centerfield against opposing offenses. The Raiders’ offense is in pretty good shape, and after a series of straightforward cuts, they will have enough cap space to sign a quality free agent or two. Williams would team with Johnathan Abram to form a young and talented safety tandem.

The Lions and Jaguars were the two worst teams in the league in 2020 in terms of total defense, and while both clubs are very much in the rebuilding phase, Williams is young enough that he could still be a part of the next competitive outfits in Detroit or Jacksonville. Those teams have plenty of areas of need, but a strong back-end defender is a worthwhile target for any defense.

One way or another, Williams is about to get paid. He might not be the most talked-about FA at this point, but assuming the Saints don’t hit him with the franchise tag, he will be one of the first players off the board when free agency officially opens next month.

Saints May Be Unable To Retain DE Trey Hendrickson

February 14th, 2021 at 10:30am CST by Rory Parks

Defensive end Trey Hendrickson was a revelation for the Saints in 2020, piling up 13.5 sacks in an unexpectedly strong platform year. Selected by New Orleans in the third round of the 2017 draft, Hendrickson had never started more than three games nor played in more than 38% of the club’s defensive snaps prior to the 2020 campaign, but he started 15 regular season contests and logged 53% of the Saints’ defensive snaps last year.

As a result, he finds himself being mentioned alongside players like Shaquil Barrett, Yannick Ngakoue, and Bud Dupree as quality pass rushers eligible to hit the open market next month. The Saints would certainly like to keep Hendrickson, but it’s unclear if they will be able to make a competitive offer.

Last week, we learned that the 2021 salary cap was likely to fall between $180MM-$181MM, which represents a significant decrease from the 2020 figure of $198.2MM. Even before the drop, the Saints were projected to be well over the salary cap, and while the club has started to reduce its cap commitments by agreeing to a renegotiated deal with retiring QB Drew Brees and releasing OL Nick Eason, there is still a lot more work to be done.

Former NFL agent and current CBS Sports analyst Joel Corry details how the Saints can bring themselves under the cap with a series of cuts and restructures, none of which seem particularly difficult to pull off (though they do include the type of machinations that have led to the Saints being right up against the cap, or over it, every offseason). His proposals do not contemplate an extension for Hendrickson, however, whom Corry says may have priced himself out of New Orleans.

Indeed, GM Mickey Loomis recently acknowledged that Hendrickson, 26, is “going to be an attractive free agent for anyone” (via Amie Just of NOLA.com). Loomis, who was speaking before the recent reports concerning the 2021 salary cap, said, “I can’t really say how strong a play we can make for that until I understand where the cap’s gonna be this year and as we go through the roster evaluations and start making our choices.”

Assuming the cap does settle in at around $180MM, a franchise tag for Hendrickson would cost about $14.5MM, and it’s unlikely the Saints would be able to carry that full amount on their books in 2021. So the only way for them to retain Hendrickson would be via a multi-year contract, and while the reduced cap could suppress the price tags of some players, it might still be difficult for New Orleans to bring back the Florida Atlantic product.

Hendrickson will doubtlessly be shooting for a deal worth at least $15MM per season, along with guarantees in the $30MM-$40MM range. He does not currently offer much by way of run defense or pass coverage, but the raw sack total he posted will attract plenty of attention, and he should find at least one team willing to meet his asking price. Whether that team is the Saints, who also have decisions to make on fellow free agents Marcus Williams and Sheldon Rankins, is very much an open question.

Saints Release OL Nick Easton

February 12th, 2021 at 4:15pm CST by Sam Robinson

Operating as a key fill-in player for the Saints over the past two years, Nick Easton is back in free agency. The Saints released him Friday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

New Orleans signed Easton two offseasons ago and used him as a starter in 15 games over the past two seasons. The Saints, however, have one of the worst salary cap situations in history and must continue to make moves to get under a 2021 cap that is expected to be reduced.

The Saints will save $5.87MM by making this move. This marks the second straight offseason in which New Orleans released one of its interior O-line starters. They cut Larry Warford last year. Easton finished his second Saints season on IR and did not play in either of their two playoff games.

Coming into the offseason, the Saints were more than $100MM over the projected 2021 cap, but Drew Brees‘ recent restructure — one likely to precede his retirement — helped bring that figure down near $70MM. The Easton move will continue the franchise’s process in trimming salary.

While Warford and Easton are now gone, the Saints have invested highly on their offensive line in recent years. They used a first-round pick on Cesar Ruiz last year and extended Andrus Peat. Center Erik McCoy‘s rookie deal runs through the 2022 season.

Following his release from the Vikings in 2019, Easton signed a four-year deal worth $22.5MM with the Saints. Injuries continued to move the veteran swing man into New Orleans’ starting lineup. Pro Football Focus was not particularly high on Easton’s work, ranking him outside the top 50 among guards in each of his two seasons. But given teams’ annual interest in proven offensive linemen, Easton should not have too much of an issue finding work for next season. For his career, the 28-year-old former UDFA has made 32 starts.

The Saints also cut tight ends Cole Wick and Jason Vander Laan. Both players opted out last season. Unlike Easton, neither has vested-veteran status.

Saints Gave Haley Big Bonus

February 9th, 2021 at 1:03pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Reserve/futures deals are non-guaranteed pacts to keep unheralded players a part of a team’s offseason 90-man roster, so they usually don’t come with any bonuses or guaranteed money. When they do, that makes them a lot more notable, and Field Yates of ESPN.com recently tweeted out this cycle’s biggest. Cornerback Grant Haley got $35.7K from the Saints, safety Marqui Christian and cornerback Xavier Crawford got $35K and $31.3K respectively from the Bears, long snapper Dan Godsil got $27.4K from the Bengals, and tight end Tyree Jackson got $25.2K from the Eagles while punter Arryn Siposs got $25K from Philly. All these guys would seem to have a better than normal chance of cracking next year’s 53. Haley saw a lot of run his first two years in the league with the Giants, and was up and down from New Orleans’ practice squad in 2020. If Cincy is giving a reserve/futures long snapper $25K, you’ve gotta figure they think there’s a good chance he’s their guy next year. Jackson is a notable name since he’s the former University of Buffalo star quarterback who has since transitioned to tight end.

Saints Facing COVID-19 Discipline

February 6th, 2021 at 9:42pm CST by Zachary Links

The Saints are facing discipline from the league office for violating COVID-19 safety policies, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport. This marks the third such violation for Sean Payton & Co., so the punishment is likely to be even larger.

Between the two previous penalties, the Saints have already been docked $750K plus the forfeiture of a seventh-round pick. First, there was the lack of mask-wearing in Week 2. Then, the Saints were seen celebrating sans face coverings again in Week 9. The latest flag stems from a late-season incident in which running back Alvin Kamara came in contact with a COVID-19 positive person at the team facility. That person was not employed by the Saints, even though non-team personnel have been barred from entering this season.

When Kamara contracted the coronavirus, the timing couldn’t have been worse. In Week 16 against the Vikings, he registered six touchdowns on the ground, matching a 91-year-old record. Forced out of the season finale, Kamara still finished the year with an NFL-high 21 TDs. Meanwhile, several other Saints RBs were forced out of Week 17, putting increased attention on the Saints and their protocols.

Interestingly, Kamara himself was not an innocent party in this. According to Jeff Duncan of The Athletic, Kamara’s refusal to wear a contract-tracing device was a problem all season, so the club had no way to trace his close contacts after he tested positive (Twitter link). The league’s investigation into the latest alleged violation could presumably lead to discipline for Kamara as well as the Saints.

The Saints project to have four, or possibly five, selections in the 2021 draft. Currently, they have only their first-, second-, and fourth-round picks. However, they are slated receive a pair of third-round compensatory picks for hiring Terry Fontenot and losing Teddy Bridgewater. In the coming days, the Saints could wind up losing more from their stockpile, though as Mike Triplett of ESPN.com tweets, they are confident that Kamara did not contract COVID-19 from contact with anyone inside the team facility (though that might not really matter, as the mere presence of non-team personnel is a protocol violation).

Triplett goes on to say that New Orleans has not yet been notified of any further discipline, and that the club would appeal any such discipline if the NFL imposes it (Twitter link).

Saints, QB Drew Brees Renegotiate Contract

February 6th, 2021 at 8:31am CST by Ben Levine

In a move that further signals the future Hall of Famer’s impending retirement, Drew Brees has reworked his contract. Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com reports (via Twitter) that the Saints have renegotiated the quarterback’s deal. The move frees up nearly $24MM in cap space for 2021.

NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets that Brees has agreed to drop his 2021 base salary to the league minimum. New Orleans will temporarily carry a $12MM cap charge for Brees until June, a drastic decrease from his previous $36MM cap charge. Thanks to these cap machinations, the Saints will be able to keep Brees on their roster past June 1 while opening an abundance of cap space (assuming the veteran ultimately hangs up his cleats). Pelissero notes that the move also results in an $11.5MM cap charge in 2022.

The move does more than provide the Saints (who are an estimated $78MM over the cap) with some much-needed financial relief. Rather, as Fitzgerald writes, the restructuring buys Brees some time as he determines whether or not he’ll retire. Either way, the transaction is another major hint that Brees career may have come to an end. Indeed, Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football seems to be hinting at the impending retirement announcement, tweeting that “one thing seems to be foreshadowing another.”

Of course, the writing’s been on the wall for a while. There were whispers about a potential retirement throughout the 2020 season, and the rumor mill has naturally heated up following the Saints’ elimination from the playoffs. While GM Mickey Loomis kept the door open on a potential return, there have been several subsequent reports stating that Brees will retire.

If this is truly the end for Brees, it will wrap up a bona fide Hall of Famer career. The 42-year-old has the most yards in league history, and he’s collected the second-most touchdowns behind Tom Brady. The next time we see Brees could be in the booth, as he signed a deal with NBC Sports last April.

Saints’ Sean Payton: “Big Interest” In Re-Signing Jameis Winston

February 3rd, 2021 at 9:49am CST by Zachary Links

The Saints like what they’ve seen from Jameis Winston. On Wednesday, Saints head coach Sean Payton said there’s “big interest” in bringing the quarterback back for 2021.

[RELATED: Drew Brees To Retire]

“We had a great exposure for one year with Jameis Winston,” Payton told NFL Network (Twitter link). “We didn’t have a normal offseason, but we had enough time to see what we had with him as a player, as a leader, and as an athlete. I really like what we had a chance to see. He was a tremendous leader for this team. That’s hard to do when you come in new in free agency your first year as a backup quarterback. So that’ll be an important checkmark for us.

“And, a lot of times, you want to hold your cards closer to the vest and he is a free agent. But him, along with Taysom Hill who’s in the building, we’ve said it all along: We’re going to develop and coach those guys. And Jameis is one of those guys that we have a big interest in.”

In 2019, Winston set career-highs in passing yards (5,109) and touchdowns (33) in 2019, while also setting a league-wide watermark with 30 interceptions. After that, Winston joined the Saints on a modest one-year, $1MM pact last year in an effort to rebuild his value. He’s done that, to some extent, by impressing his coaches in practice.

Payton had “great” exposure to Winston, even though the volume wasn’t tremendous. Winston served as the Saints’ QB3, slotted behind both Drew Brees and Taysom Hill. The former No.1 overall pick made four appearances this season, completing seven of his eleven pass attempts for 75 yards. The highlight of his year came in the playoffs, when he threw for a touchdown against his pals.

Now, with Brees set to retire, the Saints could have more reps available for the 27-year-old signal caller.

Jim Leonhard, Others In Contention For Packers’ DC Job

February 2nd, 2021 at 4:34pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Packers are conducting an expansive search to replace Mike Pettine as defensive coordinator. Several more names joined the early wave of candidates.

Former Chiefs DC Bob Sutton interviewed for the position recently, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com, who adds five other new candidates emerged on Green Bay’s radar as well. This comes after news of the Packers interviewing former Seahawks DC Kris Richard, Chargers passing-game coordinator Joe Barry, Washington secondary coach Chris Harris and Rams safeties coach Ejiro Evero. Richard and Sutton have since lined up positions with the Saints and Jaguars, respectively. Perhaps a sign about the direction the Packers’ search has taken.

Ten-year NFL safety-turned-Wisconsin DC Jim Leonhard, former Dolphins DC Matt Burke, Browns defensive line coach Chris Kiffin, Saints D-line coach Ryan Nielsen and Packers secondary coach Jerry Gray either have interviewed for the position or will do so by Wednesday, per Demovsky.

Leonhard, whose NFL playing career wrapped up after the 2014 season, has not coached at the NFL level. But he has been the Badgers’ DC since 2017. Three times in the past four seasons, Wisconsin has deployed a top-10 scoring defense in Division I-FBS. Although Leonhard’s nomadic career did not include a Packers stop, the 38-year-old is a Wisconsin native.

Gray served as the Titans’ DC from 2011-13, spent the next six seasons as Vikings secondary coach and signed on as Packers secondary coach last season. The former NFL cornerback has been an assistant in the league since the late 1990s. Kiffin spent 2020 with the Browns but worked with Matt LaFleur‘s brother Mike with the 49ers previously. Burke oversaw the Dolphins’ defense from 2017-18 and was with the Eagles during the past two seasons, while Nielsen has spent the past four seasons as New Orleans’ D-line coach.

Saints Hire Kris Richard To Staff

February 2nd, 2021 at 12:39pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Saints lost secondary coach Aaron Glenn when he left to become Dan Campbell’s defensive coordinator in Detroit, and now they’re bringing in a big name to replace him. New Orleans is hiring Kris Richard to be their new secondary coach, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets.

We just learned yesterday that Richard was talking to the Packers about their defensive coordinator job, but obviously he won’t be getting that gig. He also interviewed with the Raiders last month for the DC position that ended up going to Gus Bradley. Still only 41, Richard will have a lot more high-level experience than your typical secondary coach.

He served as the Seahawks’ defensive coordinator from 2015-17, and then was the passing game coordinator and defensive play-caller with the Cowboys from 2018-19. A third-round pick by the Seahawks out of USC back in 2002, Richard spent six years in the league as a player with a few teams.

He spent 2020 out of the league before landing on Sean Payton’s staff. Current Saints DC Dennis Allen interviewed with the Eagles about their head coaching vacancy this cycle, and Richard could be a prime candidate to succeed him should Allen move on in the near future.

Bolts, Seahawks Eyeing Joe Lombardi For OC

January 22nd, 2021 at 6:30pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Saints have lost two assistants this month, seeing Dan Campbell take Aaron Glenn with him to Detroit. They may be set to see a third depart. The Chargers and Seahawks have requested interviews with Saints quarterbacks coach Joe Lombardi, The Athletic’s Jeff Duncan tweets.

Lombardi has been with the Saints for the past five seasons, catching on with New Orleans after the Lions ended his OC tenure after less than two years in 2015. The Saints have seen some interesting developments transpire at quarterback during Lombardi’s tenure.

After Drew Brees endured his first significant injury as a Saint in 2019, backup Teddy Bridgewater led the team to five straight wins. This season, Brees’ broken ribs brought New Orleans’ Taysom Hill experiment to the forefront. To the surprise of some, the former UDFA showed promise as a passer. Hill completed 73% of his passes at 7.7 yards per attempt and continued to mix in as a gadget player in the games in which Brees started.

Lombardi, 49, has a clear connection with the new Chargers staff. He worked as Mercyhurst’s offensive coordinator and QBs coach from 2002-05. One of Lombardi’s pupils at the Division II school during that time — newly hired Bolts HC Brandon Staley. The fast-rising coach transferred to Mercyhurst from Dayton in 2005, playing under Lombardi as a senior. Lombardi left the college ranks after that season, joining the Falcons as an assistant.

Lombardi is the second name mentioned as a Bolts OC candidate. The Rams blocked the first — Kevin O’Connell — from interviewing for the job. After the Lions went 11-5 with Lombardi as OC in 2014, they fired him after starting 1-6 the following year.

The Seahawks have been connected to big names since splitting with three-year OC Brian Schottenheimer. Anthony Lynn, Adam Gase and Doug Pederson have discussed the position with Pete Carroll. While Pederson indicated he will not coach next season, Lynn and Gase remain unattached. Lynn is also in the mix for the Lions’ OC position. The Seahawks have also interviewed Raiders running backs coach Kirby Wilson, who worked with Carroll at multiple stops, for the post.

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