Saints Nuggets and Notes from the Senior Bowl

After a week in Mobile at the Senior Bowl, what are some things we learned about the Saints?

Author:
John Hendrix
Updated:
Feb 4, 2023 12:19 PM EST
Original:
Feb 4, 2023

In this story:

The Senior Bowl is today. Players that we had on the radar earlier in the week like Tyjae Spears and Eric Gray did not disappoint in Mobile. We'll dive more into those later, but wanted to focus on some of the biggest takeaways and chatter when it comes to the Saints. Here's all the relevant intel from the week.

Saints Buzz and Nuggets from Senior Bowl

PAYTON DEAL DONE: For starters, the Sean Payton trade to the Broncos getting done is certainly something everyone is glad to be done with. The fear was that things would keep lingering on, but the team feels like they got adequate compensation for Payton and are ecstatic to have a first-round pick back with the flexibility it adds.

USATSI_19902406_168388561_lowres — Feb 1, 2023; Mobile, AL, USA; American running back Tyjae Spears of Tulane (22) practices during the second day of Senior Bowl week at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports

INTEL PROCESS: New Orleans will lean heavily on their coaches at the Senior Bowl for intel, as it is giving them a lot more exposure than the normal scouting process. The Saints had two coaches on each team this week, with Ronald Curry (offensive coordinator) and D.J. Williams (quarterbacks) on the National Team and Declan Doyle (tight ends) and Corey Robinson (safeties) on the American Team. All were nominated for the process after being asked of their interest.

There's things the Saints need to know about each prospect, and the coaches had a nice cheat sheet to follow. They'll be key in providing intel at several positions that are on the team's radar like running back, wide receiver, tight end, and the secondary. One thing Declan Doyle told us is that it's a full exposure with a prospect rather than a 15-minute interview process.

New Orleans prepared each coach on how they see certain players, but did not want to skew their opinions. They want honest evaluations.

STAYING PUT: Player futures are certainly a hot commodity going into next season, especially with older veterans. One player that doesn't feel like to be on the move is Cam Jordan. From a league source, Jordan wants to stay in New Orleans and finish out his career with the Saints.

QUARTERBACK A PRIORITY: Jeff Ireland spoke with us on Wednesday, and had tons of great information when it came to the draft. For starters, Ireland said the team needs to find one, which essentially reinforces that Jameis Winston is not in the plan for 2023.

On drafting one, Ireland said that that position has to have an 'all-in evaluation' and that it is a collective input from everyone here. He said that it has to be right guy and that you can't be throwing darts. One of things that stood out was his comment on a potential dual-threat quarterback.

“You’re looking for a very consistent evaluation on the quarterback position," Ireland said on Wednesday. "We have to all be in on that particular evaluation and say, ‘Yeah, we all want this guy.’ So, whether he’s a running quarterback, a dual-threat quarterback, I mean ideally, if you’re asking me directly, I like the dual threat quarterbacks, but they gotta be able to throw when they’re hurt. So, when they can’t move their legs, they gotta be able to throw. But, I do like the dual-threat guys.”

Ireland is a firm believer of not waiting on getting someone if they're the guy. He also said that he picked Drew Brees' brain before he left to ask about what made him Drew Brees to help find the next guy. Among the many things that Brees told him was processing speed, accuracy, and getting the ball out. They'll learn some of that watching the tape and then also sitting down with the quarterback to watch tape together.

DEREK CARR BUZZ: This was certainly the second story of the week behind the Payton news. There's obviously familiarity there from Dennis Allen's final season with the Raiders. Whether or not New Orleans pursues him remains to be seen, but their interest does make a lot of sense. Las Vegas is letting Carr talk to other teams right now, similar to the Deshaun Watson saga last offseason. However, it also came right after Carr said he didn't have permission to talk to interested teams.

The big question is whether he'll get traded or if teams will wait things out and try to pursue him in free agency if he gets released. He's due a considerable amount of money on Feb. 15, which is just three days after the Super Bowl. Some $40.4 million will be guaranteed by Las Vegas over the next two years if he's not traded or released by that date.

USATSI_19478206_168388561_lowres — Nov 20, 2022; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive end Payton Turner (98) is carted off the field with an injury in the second quarter against the Los Angeles Rams at the Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

IMPORTANT YEAR COMING FOR: Payton Turner. Ireland said on Wednesday that there's a hump he has to get over and that he has to get over the injury bug. One thing that Ireland pointed out was that he has to get his weight right, but there's a lot of potential in him.

New Orleans is already going to have to deal with Marcus Davenport being a free agent, but that's not it. Tanoh Kpassagnon, Kentavius Street, Shy Tuttle, David Onyemata, and Malcolm Roach (RFA) are set to hit the market currently. A complete overhaul could be coming, and the Saints are needing to find a defensive line coach along with a new defensive coordinator, secondary coach, and tight ends coach.

TREVOR PENNING PRIMED: "I think he can be a really dominant player in this league," Ireland said. Each exposure they got to Penning was better than the previous one.

"The more he played, the better he got. The next game was better than the previous game. And then the game he started, I thought there were some holes that were really wide in the run game. He had one bad snap in the pass protection, but other than that he was clean. Those are some really good signs of a very good football player in the future."

Penning is recovering from a Lisfranc injury in which he had to have surgery on it. It was the opposite foot from the one that kept him out for two and a half months dealing with turf toe. June is his estimated time to return to action, and he's going to have a considerably larger role in 2023.