If you asked the Who Dat Nation if there are any players that the New Orleans Saints have no business letting back in New Orleans, you'd probably hear a different answer each time. Names like Cesar Ruiz, Kai Kroeger, and Dillion Radunz are names that may get thrown around.
Arguments can be made about each of the players, as their performance left much to be desired. However, it's not something that is an easy or quick decision. Emotional ties aside, if they let one guy go, they have to get someone else to replace him.
When compiling a list of names of players that should go, there were some names that were louder than others. For example, both interior offensive linemen for the Saints. This past season, they were one of the main things holding the offense back.
It's time for the Saints to tell Cesar Ruiz to kick rocks
Cesar Ruiz
Once again in 2025, former first-round pick Cesar Ruiz was a distance away from being an elite right guard for the Saints. He finished his sixth season in the NFL with a grade of 55.1 (57th out of 81 eligible guards) on Pro Football Focus, down from his career best of 67.6, which he earned last year. This year he also might've shown 2024 was an outlier and that he can't improve beyond the level of a decent backup.
Ruiz is under contract until 2027, but there are ways around that conundrum. The Saints could trade him either before the draft this year or as the summer turns to fall. They could also just outright cut him, although that's the most expensive exit Ruiz could cause (anywhere from $4.7 million to $7.3 million in dead cap).
Dillon Radunz
Dillion Radunz was only offered a one-year contract by the Saints last offseason, and they should not offer him another one this offseason. He was the guard on the opposite side of Ruiz and had an even worse season than the aforementioned player, with a PFF grade of 48.5, 75th among the 81 eligible guards. Radunz didn't do himself any favors in his first season in New Orleans.
He also didn't help the run game at all. He, along with Ruiz, was a liability in that department all season, causing the New Orleans running attack to rank in the bottom of the NFL, at 28th.
Kai Kroeger
The Saints were hoping for Kai Kroeger to end the punting woes in New Orleans. Unfortunately, he only continued the trend, ranking 30th among the 32 at his position in terms of net punt yardage with an average of 37.3. That's something that has to, at the very least, cause some competition to show up this offseason.
If the Saints were to exchange Kroeger for someone new, it wouldn't cost them much of anything. According to Spotrac, they would actually save just over $1 million if they released the punter before or after June 1st.