Few teams have as much salary cap space to work with as the New Orleans Saints do right now, which is kind of hilarious given all of the hand-wringing from national pundits and misinformed fans of other teams in recent weeks. The Saints have a plan, and they’re executing it. It’s positioned them to make more noise in free agency as the next wave of signings begins to spread across the NFL. So which free agents could be on their radar?
Now, signing any of these players will jeopardize the much-needed 2024 compensatory draft picks the Saints are projected to receive after losing so many of their own free agents in the first week of signings. But the Saints don’t often pay much mind to their comp picks (they would’ve gotten a couple of third-round picks in this year’s draft had they not signed Andy Dalton and Marcus Maye last offseason) so it shouldn’t shock anyone if they angle for immediate upgrades over long-term draft capital. For better or worse, that’s just how they do business:
1
LB Anthony Walker Jr.
Demario Davis and Pete Werner feel like the only linebackers the Saints can call known quantities in 2023; Zack Baun and D’Marco Jackson are coming off of season-ending injuries, while Nephi Sewell, Ryan Connelly, and Ty Summers might be limited to special teams. They could use someone with real NFL experience in that group. Walker is only 27 and could do that while giving them a possible succession plan if Davis is ready to retire in a year or two.
Walker would bring a much-needed veteran presence to the depth chart. He played 700-plus defensive snaps every year from 2018 to 2021 and has twice been elected a team captain in Cleveland, playing well for defensive coordinator Joe Woods. An injury cut his 2022 season short, but limiting him to Kaden Elllis’s role as the third linebacker could make sense. Like Elliss, he’s also well-versed in special teams (having averaged 146 snaps in the kicking game through his first four years).
2
WR DJ Chark Jr.
On paper, the Saints appear to be set up well with Chris Olave and Michael Thomas starting while Rashid Shaheed and Tre’Quan Smith come off the bench. But they can’t put everything on Thomas and assume he’ll finally get healthy this year. Bringing in a veteran with real potential like Chark would make a lot of sense. Shaheed’s matchups can be dictated more favorably, and Smith can focus on what he does best as a blocker out wide.
And Chark is somehow still only 26 years old. He brings a nice size-speed element the Saints are missing at 6-foot-3 and nearly 200 pounds, having timed the 40-yard dash in just 4.34 seconds back in 2018 (and, more importantly, averaged 16.7 yards per catch last season with Detroit). He also caught 8 of his 16 contested targets last year, ranking among the most-successful free agent receivers in those competitive situations. But will the money check out?
3
TE Foster Moreau
We’ve talked about Moreau before, but he makes too much sense to stop now — especially considering he actually visited the Saints over the weekend. They’re looking for an inline tight end to bump Adam Trautman down the depth chart and pair with Juwan Johnson as the primary pass-catcher at the position. Moreau is an ascending player with an established connection to Derek Carr, but he also has enough skills as a blocker to help the Saints out in multiple phases of the game. He’s weighing offers from other teams but they’re in the mix here.
4
DE Markus Golden
We’ve discussed other options at replacing Marcus Davenport, like Leonard Floyd and Frank Clark, but Golden is someone else to keep an eye on. He’s older (he just turned 32) but still brings consistent pressure off the edge while playing solid run defense, unlike some other names at the market. The Saints could use a starting-quality defensive end opposite Cameron Jordan. You’d like to get younger at this spot, not older, but the Saints haven’t drafted well at defensive end in recent years so free agency might be their best bet.
