Chargers' Projected $46 Million Cornerback Called 'Available Fit' For Saints

This signing would leave Saints fans elated

Dec 8, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; A general view of a Los Angeles Chargers helmet against the Kansas City Chiefs during the second half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

The New Orleans Saints are putting together a nice secondary.

At safety, the Saints restructured Tyrann Mathieu’s deal to bring him back and acquired Justin Reid for three years, $31.5 million. Then, New Orleans re-acquired cornerback Isaac Yiadom after he spent 2024 with the San Francisco 49ers.

What’s the Saints’ next move in the secondary? Could general manager Mickey Loomis place a call about a 25-year-old Los Angeles Chargers talent at the position? LouisianaSports.Net’s Ross Jackson certainly thinks so.

“New Orleans helped themselves ... on Thursday morning … with the signing of cornerback Isaac Yiadom who spent part of the 2022 and the entirety of the 2023 season with the Saints,” Jackson wrote on Thursday.

“After a year away with the San Francisco 49ers, he’s back on a three-year, $9 million deal that’s worth up to $10.5 million. Yiadom could start on the outside in 2025, but the Saints may still be on the hunt to bolster the group, particularly on the perimeter. Available fit: Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Asante Samuel Jr.”

Samuel Jr. excels as a boundary cornerback when healthy, the type of which would complement Yiadom, as alluded to by Jackson.

Samuel Jr. is projected by Spotrac to demand an annual value of $11.5 million, which could have him in line for a four-year, $46 million deal.

Selected at No. 47 overall out of Florida State by the Chargers in the 2021 NFL draft, Samuel Jr. has talled 176 tackles, 37 pass deflections, and six interceptions for Los Angeles in his career thus far.

He is entering his prime and would be a splash signing for the Saints, but they might be running out of room financially. Time will tell if Loomis can work some magic and get a deal done for Samuel Jr. If so, New Orleans’ secondary would have the chance to be elite in 2025.

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