Saints Winners and Losers Through 24 Hours of Free Agency

The New Orleans Saints had an explosive start to the National Football League's legal tampering period on Monday.

Starting on Monday at 11 a.m. CDT (12 p.m. ET), teams around the league were able to start negotiating with free agents and coming to terms on deals. Deals cannot be finalized until Wednesday when the new league year begins, but the Saints had a good start.

With that being said, let's dive into the winners and losers of free agency so far for New Orleans.

The Saints had a busy day on Monday

Jan 11, 2026; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. (1) runs with the ball against Buffalo Bills cornerback Taron Johnson (7) during the first half in an AFC Wild Card Round game at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images | Melina Myers-Imagn Images

Winners

Travis Etienne Jr. and David Edwards
This one is pretty obvious. Etienne and Edwards both cashed in and get to come and join an offense that should be explosive in 2026. Etienne will get to run behind an offensive line full of high draft picks and with massive upside. Edwards gets to come and add to that group. The Saints clearly targeted these two and they opened up their wallet to make sure they could get deals done.

Mickey Loomis
Loomis still has his fastball, to say the least. There were some questioning him last year and the Saints responded with arguably the best draft class in the NFL. Loomis continues his hot streak right away with Etienne, Edwards and Noah Fant and hasn't made any hasty deals with long-time Saints stars. Just an overall great start.

Losers

Pass Rush
On the negative side, the Saints did lose Demario Davis as he reportedly agreed to terms on a deal with the New York Jets. That's a significant loss for the Saints' pass rush and locker room as a whole. With Cameron Jordan available in free agency as well, the Saints have some work to do in this area.

Devin Neal
Unless Alvin Kamara is elsewhere or retired in 2026, him and Etienne are going to get the vast majority of the work out of the backfield for New Orleans. Neal flashed some potential in 2025 as a rookie, but he certainly doesn't have a clear pathway to significant snaps right now. If Kamara were to hang up his cleats, things would be a different idea here with Neal.