New Orleans Saints Offensive Line Essential to Kubiak's System and Looks to Be Major Priority
The new NFL league year will be here before we know it. Come Wednesday, all teams including the Saints must be cap compliant, and for New Orleans, they need to generate some extra space to be able to spend in free agency. How they get there remains to be seen, but will be a necessity with several question marks and holes to address.
We previously looked at the wide receiver position, which figures to be one of the top priorities for the offseason, and now shift our attention to the offensive line.
Saints Free Agent Priorities: Offensive Line
Dec 18, 2022; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints offensive line goes up against the Atlanta Falcons defensive line during the second half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
Bringing Klint Kubiak on board and essentially a brand new offensive staff is both exciting and terrifying. It could go really well or end badly, but seeing a change is a welcomed sight. There will be elements of a Kyle Shanahan style of offense, but most all of the base concepts will come from Gary Kubiak and his time with the Texans.
New Orleans does have a better outlook on the offensive line based on a few factors. Ryan Ramczyk not having a major surgery this offseason was a big relief and he's expected to be ready for training camp, while Trevor Penning won't be swapping positions as of right now and will compete at left tackle. The team is also still high on some of their depth in Landon Young and Nick Saldiveri as well.
The Saints could also look at re-signing some of their own, with a major question mark surrounding Andrus Peat. It is believed that he'll get some strong left tackle money based on his play last season. Veterans like Max Garcia and Cameron Erving filled in when called upon, and then we never got to see what Trai Turner could bring to the table.
While the outlook may feel encouraging on the surface, is potentially running it back the right call?
Saints Potential Free Agent Targets
- Trent Brown (Patriots)
- Mike Onwenu (Patriots)
- Jermaine Eluemunor (Raiders)
- Dalton Risner (Vikings)
- Kevin Zeitler (Ravens)
- John Simpson (Ravens)
- Isaiah Wynn (Dolphins)
- Laken Tomlinson (Jets)
- Cody Whitehair (Bears)
- Tyron Smith (Cowboys)
- Pat Elflein (Cardinals)
- Jonah Williams (Bengals)
Wide zone concepts with plenty of play action and motion are staples of this new offense. Pre-snap penalties like we saw last season simply can't happen as often as they did over the past couple of seasons. New offensive line coach John Benton can hopefully help bring some more discipline there. Needless to say, the operation and execution has to be crisp.
Offensive line signings in free agency may depend heavily on what New Orleans does in-house. Again, they're not going to be big spenders, and there's obviously tons of a fallout this time of year with contracts, so there's more players that become available as we near the new league year. Some players on the target list have ties to the coaching staff and Derek Carr, which could make sense. Saints News Network colleague Bob Rose also looked heavily at the offensive line possibilities, so be sure to check out his thoughts here.
If New Orleans doesn't address the offensive line much in free agency, then we should fully anticipate them using either No. 14 or 45 on an offensive lineman. The thing is that has to pay dividends from the very start. If Penning is viewed as the left tackle and all of the other factors are set in stone, then it might be left guard that's up for grabs in favor of James Hurst or if Penning doesn't come along, which could see Hurst kick outside.
Overall, this is a spot where the team can afford to get younger at and may need to excel their thinking when it comes to the future. If you land the right prospect, they could start for you for at least four years with an upside of longer depending on their track history and where they were drafted. New Orleans has to figure this out or it'll be a big problem for a team that is going through a major makeover offensively.
