Cornerbacks the Saints should target to help their secondary

Notable free agents on the market

This direction seems much more likely for the Saints. Despite having a very small amount of cap space to work with, New Orleans could sign a plethora of defensive backs to veteran minimum deals, doing little-to-no impact on the team’s current cap. Loomis and the front office tend to go this route, especially in the middle of a season, and there is a good amount of talent yet to be signed this season. 

The most obvious free agent target currently is former-Saint Sterling Moore (28 years old, six career interceptions). He’s most likely had a workout with the team already, and his knowledge of the playbook sits very well with head coach Sean Payton. 

The player I personally would have loved for New Orleans to sign is Bashaud Breeland (26, eight). Breeland signed with the Packers on Tuesday unfortunately, but the closest available free agent to Breeland is Sean Smith (31, 14). At 6’3”, Smith is much larger than most corners, and fits the new-age legion of defensive backs with length to cover. He’s played for both the Chiefs and Raiders, but has been out of the NFL for over a year due to legal troubles. His return to the league, especially New Orleans, would be very welcomed, as the flashes of talent shown by Smith would help out the Saints in press coverage. 

Speaking of former Raiders Cornerbacks, David Amerson (26, eight) is still on the market. He was cut earlier this month by Kansas City, so he’s fresh to play. He is 6’1”, and was drafted in the second round of 2013 by Washington our of North Carolina State. Like Moore, Amerson will be visiting-or has already visited-the Saints. 

Also released earlier this month was Dexter McDougle (27, 0). He had an extremely short stint with the Saints (seven days), which was even shorter than his 11-day tenure with the Lions during this past offseason. The former Maryland Terrapin is smaller (5’10”) and doesn’t possess a lot of playing experience. However, his ability in the slot would be very nice for the depth of this secondary.

Brandon Boykin (28, eight) is also an interesting option to help replace Robinson, and Ladarius Gunter (26, 0) is another tall cornerback to possibly fill opposite Lattimore. Whichever way the team decides to go, it sounds like they are moving quickly. However, the true improvement to this secondary lies in Ken Crawley. If he is able to get back to his 2017-form, whoever the Saints decide to bring in will become just the cherry on top. The Saints have their starter. He just needs to play like one again.