State of the Offseason Saints: Cornerback
We're one day closer to the start of the new league year, and there's plenty of things to figure out for the Saints before we get there in mid-March. New Orleans has a heavy presence at the Senior Bowl right now with the coaching staff getting their first exposure to some of the top college prospects in Mobile.
We're almost finished up with our position series look for the team, as we turn our attention to the cornerback group. They had a fairly strong year overall and were certainly one of the strengths of the team at times.
STATE OF THE OFFSEASON SAINTS SERIES: Quarterback | Running Back | Wide Receiver | Tight End | Offensive Line | Defensive Line | Linebacker
Saints Cornerback Overview
New Orleans Saints cornerback Paulson Adebo (29) celebrates intercepting a Titans pass in the third quarter at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La., Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023.
Players Under Contract: Marshon Lattimore, Paulson Adebo, Alontae Taylor, Faion Hicks (reserve/future), Rejzohn Wright (reserve/future)
Free Agent Outlook: Isaac Yiadom, Shemar Jean-Charles
Priority Level: Medium
The Saints corner situation was one that we felt pretty good about going into last offseason. We heard about the plan to move Alontae Taylor to the slot early on, and after the team moved on from Kris Richard and Cory Robinson in the secondary they added Joe Woods and Marcus Robertson. Under them, we'd get some really confident corner play from the main guys, but it didn't stop there.
In training camp, we heard about Dennis Allen talking about having several starters in the room, which at the time we might not have immediately thought about Isaac Yiadom, but he ended up proving Allen right. Throughout the season, we saw a couple of things. Paulson Adebo ended up playing outstanding and Isaac Yiadom would fill in and do a nice job in Marshon Lattimore's absence.
Obviously, losing Lattimore to injury did hurt. He got injured from friendly fire in the Colts game, and we'd never see him again. When he's in the lineup, he's essentially able to take away half of the field at times. But, the reality is now he's missed half of the games in the past two seasons.
Even with Lattimore missing seven games, the Saints secondary turned in a 10th overall ranking in passing yards/game with 207.3. Paulson Adebo finished 3rd in the NFL with 18 pass defenses, while Alontae Taylor and Isaac Yiadom finished T-9th with 14 pass breakups. Taylor had his fair share of struggles in the slot, seeing the bench at times, but he also rebounded and responded from those.
Going into the offseason, it's quite interesting for New Orleans. Marshon Lattimore has been the subject of a potential trade due to his option bonus. If the team does move on from him, then the position becomes a lot more important to address. They could feel confident in Yiadom holding down the starting position opposite of Adebo, but they'd still need to sign him and then backfill his spot on special teams through free agency and the draft.
It won't be surprising to see the Saints use one of those Day 3 picks, the undrafted process and even tab some talent from the UFL to add more corners to the mix regardless of what happens. Essentially, that's one spot you can't have enough of. How New Orleans attacks the spot seemingly depends on a big domino to fall, but even if Lattimore doesn't get traded, the team should try to re-sign Yiadom and keep giving the proper attention the secondary they have been.
