Saints interested in Cowboys guard Ronald Leary, ESPN says

It certainly feels like a Monday, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter sure put some life into it for the New Orleans Saints and their fans.

During an afternoon report on ESPN, Schefter mentioned that the black and gold were reportedly in talks with the Dallas Cowboys for guard Ronald Leary.

According to ESPN’s Todd Archer, Leary requested a trade from the Cowboys and was a no-show for the team’s offseason program on May 24.

"Leary signed his restricted free-agent tender worth $2.553 million before the draft in hopes of facilitating a trade. Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said the team received a few inquiries during the three-day draft but they would not just “give away” Leary. He is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent after the season."

Leary, who turned 27 in April, was originally an undrafted rookie free agent in 2012 out of Memphis. Leary started 31 out of 32 games for the team from 2013 to 2014. He started four games at left guard for the Cowboys last season, but was eventually replaced by rookie La’el Collins.

Leary did suffer a groin injury in Week 1 last year, which could explain some things. However, the Cowboys made their choice to go with Collins, and Leary made it clear that he had no intentions of returning to play as a backup. He felt so strongly about the decision that he removed any and all affiliation with the Cowboys from his personal social media accounts.

Being interested can be taken many different ways, but there’s a legitimate need for the Saints to find a stable answer for one of their guard spots. Like I said in my column on Sunday, you don’t just want anyone protecting Drew Brees. If there’s a better option, then you take it.

If I were the Saints, I would only go in with a max offer of a fourth-round pick and a player. The team is without their fifth-round pick for 2017 from a deal with the Washington Redskins.

Stay tuned, and we’ll see if anything unfolds from this.