New Orleans Saints salary review: Defensive line
By Tony Twillie
The New Orleans Saints defensive unit begins and ends with the defensive linemen. It’s an old football cliché, but it holds true – football games are won and lost in the trenches. The linemen are the warriors up front that determine whether we are at best defending the line and not allowing progress, or losing the line and yardage, creating a next to impossible task for the linebackers and defensive backs of having to do too much to hold off the opponents’ advances.
Today we examine the Saints status with defensive linemen. Are they getting enough bang for the buck? That is: are the linemen valued correctly, and are we doing the best we can at the spot for the money we spent?
As we check them out, it’s important to remember that valuation is arbitrary – one man’s gold is another man’s pyrite. It may depend on age and experience, scheme, or supporting cast to see whether or not a player is performing to their peak level. For the Saints, the lack of a strong, consistent pass rush begins and ends with the front four guys. That shortcoming coupled with the lack of run-stopping forces up front means the Saints would never get a high grade as a unit.
We begin with our players on injured reserve:
DJ Pettway – DL
3 years – $1,625,000 / cap hit – $334,666
Pettway was an undrafted rookie free agent out of Alabama who never really got started with the team before they put him on the non-football injury list. His IR status means he won’t play for us this year.
Mitchell Loewen – DE
3 years – $1,625,000 / cap hit – $419,371
Loewen was acquired as an undrafted free agent. Placed on the Reserve/Non-Football injury list in June.
Obum Gwacham – DE
4 years – $2,370,487 / cap hit – $379,235
Gwacham was acquired in 2015 by the Saints when Seattle waived him after the preseason. A converted wide receiver, Gwacham showed flashes of brilliance in his first pro season, appearing in 9 games for the Saints last season and recording 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble. He was caught up in the numbers game apparently at DE and placed in IR, so we won’t see him again until training camp next year.
Sheldon Rankins – DT
4 years – $12,801,648 / cap hit – $2,327,572
The rookie who was supposed to start next to Nick Fairley ended up breaking his tibia in training camp and was placed on IR. It is likely that he will earn the single designation of IR-player designated to return. This means Who Dats will likely get their first glimpse of Rankins sometime in November. By many accounts he was having a very nice camp before the injury.
And now on to the players who have made it onto the field this season (in order of who’s earning their money, from worst to first):
Paul Kruger – DE (OLB)
1 year (3 years, with 2 years voidable for salary cap purposes) – $3,000,000 / cap hit – $1,6000,000
It was widely circulated that the Kruger we were getting from Cleveland was only a shell of the 2014 Kruger who had 12 sacks and was a one man wrecking crew. We’ve found that out…he’s been more or less invisible since joining the Saints. He’s had 7 tackles and ½ sack so far. That’s on pace for 2 sacks and 28 tackles. Not what you expect from him. We didn’t have to pay a lot to get him, so this may be a skewed view, but he’s definitely under-performed.
Darryl Tapp – DE
1 year – $985,000 / cap hit – $600,000
An 11-year veteran signed specifically to shore up the defensive front, Tapp has been the standard of what the Saints have done this offseason. With little money to make splashes on defense, the front office tried to find some value players. Tapp came in for a mini-camp tryout and has stuck. He hasn’t gotten many snaps so far this year and has been quiet.
Kasim Edebali – DE
3 years – $1,563,000 / cap hit – $602,000
Edebali is in a contract season, but his performance as yet hasn’t been giving anyone a reason to want to sign him. In 4 games he has 2 tackles. He’s been coming on in relief of Kruger, so his snap count is down, but considering Kruger’s performance, it would seem that Edebali would only need to play marginally well to have more opportunities. He’s not right now, though he did knock down a pass in the San Diego game, and leads the team in QB hurries.
Jonathan Jenkins – DT
4 years – $2,792,560 / cap hit – $1,812,890
Jenkins is coming off a good year, so this one is more in relation to the fact that you believed he’d come out and perform better as this season commenced. Expected to be just an in and out rotational guy with Rankins holding one spot and Nick Fairley only counted on for x number of snaps. Jenkins has been OK so far this year, though he’s trending up in the last couple of games.
David Onyemata – DT
4 years – $2,882,345 / cap hit – $585,586
The rookie project player has gotten a good bit of playing time this year with the injury to Rankins. Trial by fire as they say. In 108 snaps, he’s made 4 tackles and 2 solo. But his main job is to plug holes and force a double team, as well as get interior pressure in the passing game. While his scoring is average, he is learning the game and should improve over time.
Tyeler Davison – DT
4 years – $2,497,225 / cap hit – $579,306
One of the two players that stood to most benefit from the absence of Rankins, Davison has stepped up and played commendable ball in the first 4 games. He’s appeared in 3 games and has 6 tackles. He’s looked good in the middle as well, and considering he’s on an average rookie contract, he’s the first person on this list who is performing up to and maybe beyond their contracts.
Cameron Jordan – DE
5 years – $55,000,000 / cap hit – $5,812,000
The leader of the defense, Jordan is a force. He’s not an edge rusher in the vein of J.J. Watt or Von Miller, but he still does a good job of bringing pressure. He’s instinctive and is usually quick to diagnose a play. In the first 4 games, Jordan has 2.5 sacks, 3 hurries,17 tackles and one forced fumble. Not a bad stat line. He’s considered that next step down from the elite defensive ends, but he’s instrumental to the Saints.
Nick Fairley – DT
1 year (similar to the Kruger deal, it’s 3 years but the last 2 are voidable) – $3,000,000 / cap hit – $1,510,000
From the scrap heap to another payday. Fairley wasn’t expected to start or contribute a tremendous amount. He was just here to be part of a rotation beside Sheldon Rankins. But the injury to Rankins truly forced Fairley to shape up as a veteran and take control of the interior line.
Fairley’s stats are very impressive – 3 sacks, 2 hurries, and 16 tackles in 4 games – but the leadership he seems to have provided are what make him currently the best player on the Saints defense. He’s definitely earning his money, and probably plus some. His deal includes a number of incentives that he’s going to be able to reach now with more snaps being played. The Saints might be wise since he’s already under contract to lock him up with a deal before this season ends.