The New Orleans Saints defensive line room is absolutely battered. The injury list includes Bryan Bresee, Davon Godchaux and John Ridgeway on the interior, and Christen Miller just returned to practice. It's no surprise the Saints signed Kahlil Saunders.
The Saints need bodies, simple and plain. Bresee is the biggest injury, but when you look at that list, it's getting thinner by the day. They also lost Xzavian Harris, a highly touted UDFA who never got on the field due to injuries.
Saunders comes to New Orleans with SEC experience. He spent 5 years at Kentucky, and showed a decent ability to get into the backfield for tackles for loss and sacks. He'll aim to make a big impact in a short time as a late addition.
Saints may have showed faith in the talent in the building
The Saints lost their top interior defensive lineman two weeks ago, and they didn't make any immediate moves. There was no rush or scrambling from the staff to try to fill a void. When they do address the position, it's with an undrafted free agent.
Everything about how the staff has handled the fallout of the Bresee injury says they feel comfortable with what's in the room. The decision to not go after a veteran furthers that belief. And honestly, they may not be completely misguided in that belief.
The Saints have invested in the defensive trenches in each of the past two drafts. They picked Vernon Broughton in 2024, and Miller was a top-50 pick in this past draft. The attention shifts to them, but the Saints still have veterans in the room.
The Saints do need those veterans to be healthy. Godchaux and Ridgeway are injured, leaving Nathan Shepherd as the only healthy vet. The Saints might not have made a move when Bresee got hurt, but the subsequent injuries make a move mandatory. These injuries shouldn't be long term, so that's why the Saunders signing feels like a temporary fix just for camp.
There’s reason to believe in the top of this room when healthy. The immediate rebuttal would be you didn’t get any better by losing Bresee and that would be true, however, the conversation shouldn’t be around being better. It’s about how do you stay afloat after losing your best player, and they have the talent to do that.
The unit needed to improve from last season, and the hope is Broughton and Miller can give them that boost. They’re the new bodies into this room who are supposed to help the unit be better run defense specifically.
The Saints could have opted to pursue a veteran. They didn’t, and that sends the message they do believe their two young tackles can deliver on that hope.Â
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