Top Saints Cut Candidate Is Someone Almost No One's Talking About

The New Orleans Saints' roster isn't going to look exactly the same in 2026 as it did in 2025.

That much is obvious and likely is an understatement. New Orleans is going to have the means to aggressively add to the franchise if it sees fit. Mickey Loomis already has said this offseason that his goal is not just to win the NFC South in 2026. He wants more.

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"I think all of us, you know, every day with every team, whether it is a coach or GM, has a vision for how they can win their division, regardless of how strong or weak you may think it is" Loomis said. "We're going to approach it the same way. How do we improve enough to win the division? We don't want to just win the division. We don't want to be an 8-9 team winning the division. We want to win the division, be dominant and have a chance to make a run in the playoffs. So that's what our goal is going to be."

What will the Saints do this offseason?

Oct 5, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints safety Jordan Howden (31) returns a fumble for a touchdown against the New York Giants during the fourth quarter at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

It's going to be a long offseason full of potential change. Most of the early noise has been about various guys who would make sense as potential additions. For example, New Orleans should go after Tyreek Hill, now that the Miami Dolphins released him. Or, about pending free agents, like Cameron Jordan, Alontae Taylor, Demario Davis and Taysom Hill.

But which internal pieces could the team move on from? The Athletic shared a list of one player from each team that could be cut this offseason. For the Saints, The Athletic's Larry Holder mentioned someone who hasn't been talked about pretty much at all this offseason: safety Jordan Howden.

"New Orleans Saints," Holder wrote. "S Jordan Howden. The Saints have very few options to create any significant space by cutting a player before June 1. Via Over the Cap, Howden would create $3.65 million in space if the team let go of its backup defensive back. The real action could come from the Saints’ voided contracts of Cam Jordan, Demario Davis and Taysom Hill. Moving on from those three would open about $25 million after June 1. So the creation of any major cap space should occur through contract extensions and restructures of current players."

This idea makes sense. The Saints have Jonas Sanker heading into his second season in the NFL. On top of him, the Saints have last year's big free agent pickup in Justin Reid. New Orleans also re-signed Julian Blackmon already. The safety room is pretty deep right now.

Howden hasn't gotten much buzz at all this offseason and it's not hard to see why. The room is deep and there may not be space for the 25-year-old in 2026. You've likely not heard Howden's name much this offseason, and this isn't likely the reason he would hope.

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