Winners, losers from Saints’ offseason so far
We are now a few weeks into the 2022 offseason, and he have not seen a ton of splash moves by the New Orleans Saints thus far. They’ve been budget-conscious in their additions while parting ways with a couple of high-priced free agents like Terron Armstead and Marcus Williams, which has created a serious ripple effect for other players on the roster.
And the draft is coming up this week, meaning some more changes are on the way. Let’s take a quick look at the depth chart and see which players are in better situations than they started and which ones may have taken a step back.
Winner: P.J. Williams
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With the departures of Malcolm Jenkins and Marcus Williams, it looks like the window of opportunity for P.J. Williams as a safety is only growing. The veteran safety signed another one year deal with the team this offseason after playing on 51% of snaps for the defense last year. It is likely that the coaching staff will look to him to do more as one of the longest tenured members of the team, even if they do draft a rookie as some expect.
Loser: Taysom Hill
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The Taysom Hill quarterback experiment seems to have ended after the departure of Sean Payton. He was unable to establish himself in that role, and the team is going to be using him more as a pass-catcher from now on. His contract had a ton of money tied up in incentives, should he have won the job and become quarterback, and it looks like that money is out of reach.
Winner: Wil Lutz
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After a wishy-washy season without him, the Saints have not been busy in the kicker market this offseason. Showing that they still have confidence in the veteran even after his injury. Lutz does not seem to be in a position where he will have to fight for his job come the start of the season.
Losers: Shy Tuttle and Malcolm Roach
AP Photo/Derick Hingle
Both players saw a little bit over 40% of defensive snaps last season, but the competition of the defensive line group is continuing to grow. The team re-signed Jalen Dalton and Albert Huggins, while also bringing in Kentavius Street and Jaleel Johnson on one-year deals. It has also been rumored that the team is looking to add another interior lineman during the draft.
Winner: Adam Trautman
AP Photo/Brynn Anderson
Despite some intriguing names being available in free agency, the team has not brought in any new names to the tight end room beyond J.P. Holtz, a training camp body. The tight end class in the draft also does not seem to bring much in terms of day one starters either. It looks like the job of starting at tight end is safe for Trautman — for now.
Loser: Ian Book
AP Photo/Derick Hingle
The team must not have seen enough from year one to trust him as the team’s backup as they brought in veteran Andy Dalton to be Winston’s backup quarterback. Some also seem to think the Saints will be targeting another quarterback in the draft, which could push Book out of the room and on to the practice squad.
Winner: Whichever rookie wide receiver the Saints pick
AP Photo/Jason DeCrow
Whoever comes in to the wide receiver room during the draft has a clear path to early playing time. The Saints have done nothing with this position other than bring back a couple of players. Michael Thomas is set to come back, but that is also in the favor of a rookie receiver as Thomas will draw the best match up the other team has to offer.
Loser: LSU fans
AP Photo/Matthew Hinton
With a large portion of Saints fans also being LSU fans, it has been nothing but teases so far. With an offseason full of meetings and reports about interest in Tyrann Mathieu and Jarvis Landry, it does not seem imminent that any players are returning home to Louisiana. Not to mention, fan-favorite former LSU linebacker Kwon Alexander has also yet to be re-signed this offseason.
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