NFL Free Agency 2020: Making the New Orleans Saints case for Robby Anderson
By Drake Lohse
The Saints have been relatively quiet in the first few hours of free agency, while their division has been making plenty of noise.
Aside from welcoming Malcolm Jenkins back and locking down David Onyemata, the Saints have let A.J. Klein, Keith Kirkwood, and Eli Apple walk. They also don’t appear to be on the same page as Vonn Bell.
Their remaining free agents: P.J. Williams, Vonn Bell, Johnson Bademosi, Patrick Omameh, Stephone Anthony, Josh Martin, Manti Teo, D.J. Swearinger, Noah Spence, Dwyane Washington, and Cameron Tom.
After some restructuring, New Orleans had roughly $10 million in cap space, prior to the Malcolm Jenkins signing.
It’s likely Jenkins’ 4-year, $32 million dollar contract is a touch backloaded, in order to free up space for this offseason. Barring some more wheeling and dealing from Mickey Loomis, the Saints shouldn’t have much left to play with.
But they may not need much to address one of their top priorities.
Free-agent receiver Robby Anderson is drawing little interest. Anderson’s asking price has likely been too high, and teams would much rather grab a younger, cheaper receiver in the loaded upcoming draft class.
Anderson’s market will continue to stall, leaving the Saints the opportunity to swoop in and grab him at a bargain. While the Saints have secured Emmanuel Sanders, the trio of receivers would be lethal for New Orleans.
New Orleans has plenty to offer Anderson: the opportunity to play for Drew Brees in a prolific, contending offense. They won’t be able to offer him the money he’s worth, but a marriage between the two parties could push the Saints past the first round.
Imagine Sanders, Anderson and Thomas with Brees, Alvin Kamara and Jared Cook. Their offense could easily be the best in the league.
Anderson, for his part, has plenty to bring to the table as well. At 26 years old, he’s slowly built a reputation as one of the most consistent deep-ball threats in the league. He’s averaged about 15-yards-per-catch over his career.
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Locking down Anderson would eliminate the need to compete with the rest of the league in the draft for a receiver, and would allow the team to focus on the defensive side of the ball in the draft.