Saints Exercise Fifth-Year Option for Marcus Davenport

It's been an eventful day for the Saints, and we haven't even reached the NFL draft. New Orleans has picked up the fifth-year option for defensive end Marcus Davenport, as first reported by Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football. The window was open until May 3rd for the team, and the former 2018 first-rounder will be around at least two more seasons.

The price tag comes in at $9.553 million, which is fully guaranteed. Saints general manager Mickey Loomis was asked about picking up Davenport's option during his Wednesday afternoon pre-draft press conference, to which he responded, "We'll make an announcement on that. Obviously, before the deadline."

Davenport just opened up some in an interview recently, discussing criticism and handling pressure while giving some NFL draft advice.

Davenport said, "Being around a lot of good players have helped me build up my own confidence, or build it back to a point where you know especially to the other guys coming in, you're a player too."

The Saints are going to need Davenport to step up in a big way to help with their pass rush in 2021, and it seems like the tandem of Davenport and Cam Jordan could get the job done. Carl Granderson is primed for a bigger role, and the team also brought in Tanoh Kpassagnon through free agency.