The New Orleans Saints once spent a third-round pick on Stanford cornerback Paulson Adebo with the hopes that he could give their secondary a boost. Right away, it was clear that Adebo had potential, tallying three interceptions and deflecting eight passes as a rookie in 2021.
By the time Adebo's contract was up though, it was clear that the Saints weren't going to have the funds to keep him in the Big Easy. He signed a three-year deal worth $54 million to join the New York Giants in 2025 and while Saints fans were bummed to see him go, the team was never going to spend that kind of money on Adebo.
So, off to the Big Apple Adebo went and it did not go well. In his first year with the Giants, Adebo struggled in coverage and was considered a disappointing addition to the roster overall. It definitely made the Saints' decision not to sign him to that kind of deal look smarter. Maybe he wouldn't have struggled as much if he stayed put but Saints fans are glad they didn't have to find out.
Saints may have made the right call on Paulson Adebo
Now, entering a critical second season with the G-Men, things are not trending in a positive direction for Adebo. While the former Saints corner is making $18 million this year, he's not even listed as a starter on New York's Week 1 depth chart. That is brutal to be making that much money and still not being able to crack the starting lineup.
Jason Kandel of GMEN HQ, FanSided's Giants site, pointed out how this proves that Giants head coach John Harbaugh doesn't care about salaries. He's going to play the best players and that's that.
"Adebo will still have every opportunity to change that once the games actually count. But for a player making $18 million per year who was supposed to cement himself as the Giants’ long-term CB1, opening Week 1 behind Banks and Greg Newsome II is about as loud a message as Harbaugh could send without saying a word."
Clearly, Harbaugh doesn't care that Adebo is one of the highest-paid players on the team. He's not going to play Adebo just because the team invested a lot of money into him, not if he's undeserving of being on the field.
Saints fans might have been sad about losing Adebo at the time but after seeing him struggle in Year 1 with the Giants and now getting bumped to second-string, it's obvious that New Orleans made the right call here. It's hard to watch a former player that fans liked go on to struggle elsewhere but at least it didn't happen while he was wearing the black and gold.
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