There are just a few weeks left in the 2023 season, meaning some New Orleans Saints players are going to be playing their final games in black and gold. A few of them already have. Free agency is looming off on the horizon in March and the Saints are going to have to make some tough decisions given their difficult salary cap outlook.
Some players have really helped themselves by stepping up when their number was called. Others are poised to move on in free agency and seek better opportunities. And a few are aging out and likely headed for their next chapter in pro football.
Here are the players we’re watching closely in the final weeks of the 2023 season:
CB Isaac Yiadom
Yiadom has played really well this year in relief of Marshon Lattimore and Paulson Adebo when the starting cornerbacks were dealing with injuries; Pro Football Focus charting found that he has forced 11 incompletions on just 40 targets, including 10 pass breakups and an interception. He’s only been penalized twice on 268 snaps in coverage. Many teams should be interested in him as a free agent.
LT Andrus Peat
Peat moved back to his college position at left tackle after spending half a decade at left guard, and he’s been the Saints’ best option. But is he a must-sign free agent for the team in the spring? They renegotiated his contract earlier this year so that Peat would test the market in 2024 and leave less dead money behind. New Orleans badly needs Trevor Penning to develop into a playable left tackle but the outlook without Peat is murky at best.
LB Zack Baun
Baun was finally given the opportunity to rush the passer this season and he responded by nearly tripling his career pressures total and bagging his first sack. He’s improved against the run, too, after moving up closer to the line of scrimmage where he has been one of the Saints’ more active defenders up front. It would be nice to keep him as a versatile playmaker in the front seven but he would do better to go somewhere he can get more snaps. The Saints had four years to figure out how to get him on the field.
QB Jameis Winston
Winston didn’t find a better alternative to the Saints when he surveyed free agency in 2023, but that may not be the case in 2024. He’ll have opportunities to work either as a backup or maybe compete with a low-end starter on some other team. In any case, the Saints are prepared to move on after drafting Jake Haener to develop as a backup quarterback. Could Winston reunite with Sean Payton on the Denver Broncos?
TE Jimmy Graham
Graham returning to close out his career with the Saints was a great story, even if poor coaching decisions limited what he was able to do. Whether he was used too often as a blocker early in the year, benched for a long stretch in the middle, or underused as a receiver as of late, it’s easy to believe he could keep going if he wanted to. But he was already gearing up for his next adventure in retirement before coming back to New Orleans last summer. Odds are he’ll move on for good in the spring.
WR Keith Kirkwood
Kirkwood has done well for himself in his role. He’s hung around the bottom of the depth chart, blocked hard when they’ve asked him to, and played a lot of reps on special teams to help out where he can. But he’s a limited athlete and on the wrong side of 30. The Saints should look to upgrade the receiving corps in the spring and, hopefully, get younger as the team continues to age across the board.
DT Malcolm Roach
We’re cheating by including a couple of players who are sidelined by injuries, but they deserve mentioning nonetheless. It’s really unfortunate that Roach was injured late in the season; he was a breakout player for the Saints and one of their most active defensive linemen. And even with that injury, he outplayed his former teammate Shy Tuttle who got a nice contract from the Carolina Panthers earlier this year. Roach should enjoy an active market in free agency if his medicals check out.
WR Michael Thomas
Has Thomas already caught his last pass as a Saint? It’s very possible. The offense doesn’t play to his strengths with Derek Carr at the helm — the quarterback is too hesitant and too inaccurate on the in-breaking crossers and slants that Thomas made hay with for years. After working hard to come back from multiple injuries and help the team, Thomas may owe it to himself to leave for greener pastures and find a quarterback who can make full use of his talents.
