Saints Re-Sign Sterling Moore, But Still Need DB Help

The New Orleans Saints brought back one of their key contributors from 2017 in Sterling Moore.

The signing is a great move. With all the injuries in the Saints secondary, Sterling Moore is now possibly the only sure thing among their cornerbacks. Whether or not he starts in 2017, his presence will be crucial for the team’s success.

But the Saints still need to find more talent for their secondary if they want to compete. Malcolm Butler would alleviate some of that need, but the impending release of Jairus Byrd leaves another hole at safety. And even if Butler does come over to the Big Easy, you can never have too many cornerbacks.

Sterling Moore’s contract details:

The cap hit of that one year has not yet been released, but we can expect it will be considerably more significant than the $760,000 contract he signed in 2016.

Moore essentially came off the streets to sign with the Saints in the twilight hours of the offseason. The Saints released Cortland Finnegan to make room for Moore, and I admit, at the time I was upset by the move. Finnegan played with fire and toughness and I liked having him on the roster. I didn’t know much about Moore. But I learned.

Moore came in and had a break-out year for the Saints. Injuries thrust him into the starting lineup

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and saw him facing off one-on-one against some of the best receivers in the league. Yet he held his own against the likes of Julio Jones and OBJ. With only B.W. Webb and Ken Crawley available behind him in the lineup, Moore often had to play without safety help against opposing WR1s. And he did a great job.

With the uniquely deep draft pool at CB, Moore likely saw far less interest than he would have in another year. That’s likely the explanation for the one-year contract. 2018 should be a much better offseason for free agent cornerbacks, and Moore will try to cash in on that.

But it’s worth noting that Moore was vocal on social media about his desire to come back to New Orleans.

Hopefully the Saints manage to land Malcolm Butler and some solid DB prospects in the draft. I’d probably prefer them to sign a player like Rafael Bush before the draft, but Payton raved earlier in the offseason about the depth at the position this year. The Saints may very well roll with another rookie at safety.

But either way, the Saints made an important move bringing back Moore. If the Saints add someone like Butler, Moore will be great depth in case of injury. And even if they don’t, I’d be okay with the Saints coming into the season with Moore starting opposite Breaux.