Is the Saints' New Offensive Guard the Key to 2026 Success?

A fifth round choice out of Wisconsin in 2019 for Los Angeles, David Edwards worked his way up in the ranks to become the starting guard in the Rams in the Super Bowl 56 winning season. Four years later, he moved on to Buffalo, spending three years with the Bills, anchoring an offensive front that opened holes for James Cook III each of those years. Cook eclipsed 1-thousand yards each of those years and claimed the NFL rushing title in 2025 with over 16-hundred yards. Edwards signed a four-year deal with the Saints in March of this year for just over $60-million.

Edwards is the linch pin to solidifying the Saints offensive front. Now with Kelvin Banks Jr., Edwards, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz and Taliese Fuaga the club has pieced together a solid front five to protect quarterback Tyler Shough and open holes for Travis Etienne and Alvin Kamara.

Welcome to New Orleans Heat

The Badger alum now comes to the Crescent City in late July-early August with temperatures hovering near 95-degrees each day.

Saints offensive guard David Edward — Jul 30, 2026; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints guard David Edwards (76) during training camp at Ochsner Sports Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"Yeah, it's been great," Edwards told the media today. "Heat's been great. It's been a great start to camp, so I've been really enjoying it."

Hold on. You said "Heat's been great." You really said that?

"Yeah," Edwards acknowledged. "We came back about two weeks early just (to) get acclimated a little bit. So once you're in it, you're getting it. And so it's been a good acclimation. It's been good. Practice would start, doing your runs outside, et cetera. So just trying to get acclimated."

Training Camp is Consequential

Now in his eighth year in the NFL, the Wisconsin alum knows how important training camp is.

"When you first start training camp," Edwards explained, "you're still trying to get acclimated into, running plays, hitting blocks a certain way, keeping your hips under you, moving the right way, etc. So you're not in pads, you're in helmets and all, but are there clips. Are there runs? Are you hitting blocks? Are you moving the way you want to move and protecting the right way? There are certainly clips and reps that we've had leading into, today where you can reference and say. 'Hey guys, this is exactly how we want to do it.'"

In only his fourth day on the field as a Saint, Edwards is getting a good feeling about the New Orleans offensive front.

"A lot of good things that we've done so far," the former Buffalo Bills acknowledged, "and there's a lot of stuff that we've got to clean up and be better at, but there's a lot of things that we can point to right now and say, 'This is what we're hunting up.'"

Learning His O-line Compatriots

And compared to where he has been before, the Los Angeles and Buffalo, he feels right at home in New Orleans.

"A lot of things that I've run in the past (I) have been accustomed to doing," Edwards explained. What's great is that you can activate different schemes at any time that you hit the down line in a certain way that's different than what they're used to. You're IDing certain plays maybe different than what the defense is. You're running a play out of this formation and then running that same play out of a different one, right? So, the mix of formations, motions, shifts, (is now) presenting to the defense a scheme or a formation that ends up being different. Then ultimately you're hitting blocks, you know, differently, right? On a zone scheme, on a gap scheme, on power, whatever it is, you're not hitting the defensive linemen or linebackers consistently the same way, so it just keeps them on their toes a little bit. I still think we're building that, and that's what's been really fun."

And He's Impressed by the #1 & #2 Saints Running Backs

What is really exciting for him, though, is seeing the quality of running backs, especially in Travis Etienne Jr and Alvin Kamara.

"I think that the beauty of Travis is his ability to start and stop," Edwards beamed, "and have this patience behind the line of scrimmage as well as at the line of scrimmage and then make a decision and go is really special and unique.

"What's really special and unique about AK is I feel like that guy can hit a home run at any second. His twitchiness, athleticism, and burst is really unique, but that's all of our backs. You've got to find a certain balance between 'This guy does this well' and 'This guy does that well,' and ultimately letting him loose and play free and have fun."

Training Camp Update

Monday, the Saints strap on the pads. That is a sold out venue for fans. Here is the schedule through August 7:

- Monday, 9:00-11:00 a.m. 1st Day of Pads (Tickets sold out)
- Tuesday, Off Day
- Wednesday, 9:00-11:00 a.m. 2nd Day in Pads (Tickets available as of this writing)
- Thursday, 9:00-11:00 a.m. CLOSED PRACTICE
- Friday, Off Day

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