This is a bit of a surprise. It was previously reported that the New Orleans Saints were fielding trade offers for veteran cornerback Bradley Roby, who was projected to start in the slot — but the team is releasing him outright, as reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Roby played just 22 snaps in the preseason while taking a lot of time off with the rest of the starting lineup, so the reverse course at the last minute like this is strange. He had to have had some trade value. Releasing him does allow him to choose his next team but both sides may have been better off finding a way to compromise and keep him in New Orleans.
Oh well. The decision to let him go for nothing is painful for a Saints team that’s short on draft capital. At least they’ll save some salary cap space — Roby was set to carry a salary cap hit north of $4 million, and releasing him now saves the team more than $3.3 million. But they were already in the clear by about $11.4 million, so that’s not going to really change things for them one way or another.
Another factor in moving on from Roby: his departure opens a starting role in the slot for Alontae Taylor. The second-year cornerback was very impressive as a rookie but he has struggled mightily in transitioning to a role guarding the slot. If the Saints are determined to get their former second-round draft pick on the field at all costs, adopting a sink-or-swim mentality, at least they have a competent veteran backup to lean on on Ugo Amadi.
