Saints continue to keep options open at RB with interest in Marlon Mack

The New Orleans Saints have one of the best running backs in the league in Alvin Kamara but after parting ways with Latavius Murray and rolling with Tony Jones Jr. as the backup, they’re looking for some more quality depth. The Saints are reportedly one of the teams who reached out to the Colts about Marlon Mack.

Josina Anderson tweeted on Friday morning that the Saints — along with the Chiefs, Panthers, and 49ers — inquired about Mack, who asked to be traded from Indianapolis after his role diminished this season.

As Anderson notes in the tweet below, the team who lands Mack would be in charge of paying him his $1 million fully guaranteed salary.

Do the Saints really need Marlon Mack?

Honestly, it couldn’t hurt to add a more viable running back to the roster. After parting with Murray, the Saints hoped that Jones would be the RB2 they were hoping for but he’s on IR. They’ve signed guys to the practice squad but none of them are as proven as Mack is.

The former South Florida product heard his name called in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Colts and he put up incredible numbers in 2018 and 2019. The 2019 season saw him rush for over 1,000 yards and eight touchdowns.

Mack isn’t much of a pass-catcher, not hauling in more than 225 yards receiving (which he did as a rookie) so he might not be the perfect fit for Sean Payton’s offense. We’ve seen how good Kamara is as a pass-catcher and that’s how New Orleans likes to do their damage.

Out of the teams listed above, NOLA has the least urgent need for Mack. The other three teams all saw their starting running back injured and are rolling with their respective backups at the moment.

While Mack would make the Saints’ offense better, there are certainly bigger needs for the team moving forward.