The New Orleans Saints entered the offseason nearly $50 million over the salary cap, but they still found a way to be active in free agency. The team did all of its an annual restructures and reworked contracts, and created enough space to be relatively aggressive in free agency. The Saints re-signed Chase Young and Juwan Johnson, signed Justin Reid, traded for Davon Godchaux, and acquired even more necessary depth pieces.
The team is also sitting on about $30 million in cap space to make even more moves. Of course, New Orleans still has multiple needs it must address, and whatever the team doesn’t get to in free agency, will have to be figured out in the 2025 Draft. Typically, teams want to fill as many holes as possible ahead of the draft, so they can take a best-player-available approach, instead of drafting out of desperation.
The Saints aren’t quite there yet, but they have made enough moves for their first-round draft approach to shift a little. Early in the offseason, linemen, on both sides of the ball, and receiver were considered the biggest needs for New Orleans. Those two groups still need to be addressed, but Dan Parr, in a recent piece for NFL.com, argues that cornerback is now New Orleans’ top need.
"Cornerback remains the biggest need for the Saints, even after bringing back Isaac Yiadom, who started eight games for them in 2023. It’s fair to wonder how tempted they will be to bring in some life for the offense if the opportunity to draft a potentially franchise-altering QB presents itself. If they don’t take that big swing, bringing in a complementary playmaker at receiver and/or tightening up the offensive line, especially at left guard, would be sensible."Dan Parr (NFL.com)
Cornerback named the top need for the Saints entering the draft
If New Orleans feels this way, it would certainly make the ninth-overall pick interesting. While many expect the Saints to go after a pass catcher or edge defender, the franchise could have its sights set on a top corner like Michigan’s Will Johnson. After losing Paulson Adebo and Marshon Lattimore in the last year, that wouldn’t be a far-fetched idea.
The Saints did find Kool-Aid McKinstry in the second round of the 2024 Draft, and he’s already a solid starter for the team, so New Orleans may be comfortable waiting to find a corner. If the team is willing to wait, it can still go after another position in round one.