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Saints All-Pro Star At Center Of Offseason Trade Buzz

The Saints could look to trade one of their top talents on defense before the 2025 season.
Zach Pressnell|
Oct 7, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; A general view of a New Orleans Saints helmet against the Kansas City Chiefs during the first half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images
Oct 7, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; A general view of a New Orleans Saints helmet against the Kansas City Chiefs during the first half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

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New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints' offseason has been quite exciting, to say the least. They've shocked the world with their decision to draft Kelvin Banks Jr. and Tyler Shough in the first and second round of the NFL Draft, respectively.

The Saints went out and hired offensive guru Kellen Moore to be the team's new head coach.

New Orleans also saw Derek Carr retire without much warning.

Bleacher Report's Alex Ballentine recently suggested the Saints could continue making moves this offseason by using former All-Pro safety Tyrann Mathieu as a trade asset.

"With Carr's retirement, the Saints have the opportunity to get a little more cap flexibility. They usually enter each offseason with more than $80 million in cap debt to move around," Ballentine wrote. "However, they are only slated to be $42 million over in 2026 at this point.

"The Saints might be interested in trading away a player like Penning or a veteran like Tyrann Mathieu, but it's not surprising that they reportedly turned down an offer from the Steelers for 24-year-old Chris Olave."

Trading Mathieu might not be the worst idea.

The Saints aren't going to be Super Bowl contenders this season, whether Mathieu is a Saint or not. He's on an affordable contract and would be relatively easy to move in a trade.

For the Saints, this would take them back a step in terms of talent, but it would add another draft pick or two, likely in the 2026 NFL Draft.

The Saints are already looking forward to the future given their disastrous roster configuration. Trading Mathieu would fit the mold of what their team is seemingly doing.

More NFL: Saints Should Pursue Huge Trade With Cowboys For All-Pro Cornerback

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Zach Pressnell
ZACH PRESSNELL

Zach Pressnell has experience covering all major US sports at both the professional and collegiate levels. He’s produced content for FanSided, Blog Red Machine, The Game Haus, Bethany College Athletics and the Bethany College online newspaper, He graduated from Bethany College (WV) with a degree in Communications and Media Arts, specializing in Sports Journalism. Pressnell was also a four-year member of the baseball team where he earned himself All-PAC recognition as a pitcher (and a cool Tommy John surgery scar). Now, Pressnell specializes in NFL and MLB coverage for Sports Illustrated’s “On SI” network among others. For all business/marketing inquiries, reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org

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