Could or Should the Saints trade Sheldon Rankins?

Amid news over the last two days that the New Orleans Saints were among the two reported teams to be in the running to sign star free agent DE Jadeveon Clowney, reports also surfaced that the Saints could look to part ways with one of their stars. On Friday, Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer of MMQB reported New Orleans DT Sheldon Rankins could be on the trade block as the NFL's mandatory cut-down to a 53-man roster for each team approaches this afternoon.

New Orleans selected Rankins with the 12th overall pick of the 2016 draft out of Louisville. After missing the first half of his rookie year with a broken leg, Rankins had 4 sacks, 6 QB hits, 3 tackles for loss, and a forced fumble over the last nine action games. He played in all 16 games and 3 playoff games over the 2017 and 2018 seasons, amassing 10 sacks, 24 QB hits, 17 tackles for loss among 66 total stops, forcing 2 fumbles, and intercepting 1 pass. Rankins was playing at a Pro Bowl level in 2018 and notched career bests in sacks (8), TFL (12), QB hits (15), and total tackles. He suffered a torn Achilles during the Saints divisional playoff win over Philadelphia that year, which would force him to miss the first month of the 2019 season. Upon his return, he had 2 sacks, 8 pressures, and 2 tackles for loss in ten games of action, but would miss the last month with an ankle injury.

WHY THE SAINTS COULD TRADE RANKINS

New Orleans is looking to clear up salary cap space to sign Jadeveon Clowney to a one-year deal by Monday. Clowney, while not necessarily a need for a very good defense, is one of the league's better edge defenders and would give the team a fearsome trio at DE along with Marcus Davenport and All-Pro Cameron Jordan. The 26-Yr old Rankins is in the last year of his rookie contract, and the Saints could free up nearly $7.7M of salary cap space if they could deal the talented DT. With several big contract decisions looming for the franchise after this season, it also seems highly unlikely they offer Rankins a contract extension after this year.

New Orleans is deep at DT, attacking offenses with a talented rotation of David Onyemata, Malcom Brown, and Shy Tuttle along with Rankins. There’s no denying the disruptive ability of Rankins. However, the Saints would still have a formidable trio of defensive tackles without him. They could also fill out their depth by keeping veteran DE/DT Mario Edwards Jr., Margus Hunt, or rookie UDFA Malcolm Roach.

WHY THE SAINTS SHOULD KEEP RANKINS

When healthy, few players can match the combination of power and speed that Rankins possesses. He commands multiple blockers from opponents and will still often defeat double teams to make a play. It usually takes two years for a player to recover from an Achilles injury fully, so Rankins should be far more effective in 2020 than he was last season.

While true that the Saints are unlikely to keep Sheldon Rankins beyond the 2020 season, keeping him would fit along with the team's ‘‘all in'' philosophy to win a second Super Bowl championship this season. Even without Jadeveon Clowney, a defensive line of Cameron Jordan and Marcus Davenport outside along with Rankins, Brown, Onyemata, and Tuttle inside would give the Saints a powerful defensive line capable of adding that second title.