The New Orleans Saints were aggressive in moving up the board in the 2022 NFL Draft. Before things kicked off, they made a deal with the Philadelphia Eagles that included four first-round selections. During the draft, they made another move up the board, landing the No. 11 pick from the Washington Commanders to select Ohio State wide receiver Chris Olave.
With their second first-round selection, the Saints selected Northern Iowa offensive tackle, Trevor Penning, who will help replace Terron Armstead, who signed with the Miami Dolphins. And just like that, New Orleans filled two of the biggest holes they had remaining in the offseason.
One hole that they were unable to fill during the draft was at safety, where they lost Marcus Williams to the Baltimore Ravens in free agency and Malcolm Jenkins retired. They did sign Marcus Maye away from the New York Jets to fill one safety spot earlier in the offseason but made their biggest splash after the draft.
The Saints agreed to a deal with Tyrann Mathieu, formerly of the Kansas City Chiefs. Mathieu is returning home as he played collegiately at LSU and will now be patrolling the Saints secondary with his versatile skill set.
There is a chance that Mathieu isn’t the only former LSU standout that returns home this offseason. According to PFF, the Saints would be the perfect fit for former Tiger wide receiver Jarvis Landry.
Landry was a cap casualty of the Cleveland Browns, getting released earlier this offseason. He was reportedly seeking a major contract in free agency, as he wanted $20 million annually. No team was going to get close to that number, but now that signings are no longer calculated into the compensatory equation, his market could heat up.
Bringing on Landry would further turn was seen as a weakness into a strength. Michael Thomas is expected to make his return to the field this season and Olave will make an immediate impact at the wide receiver position as well. Adding Landry to that mix would give Jameis Winston a really good trio to throw the ball to this season.
Landry would bring some physicality to the position as he isn’t afraid to mix things up in the run game. A route running tactician, Landry does most of his work on shallow routes and working over the middle, providing a team with a chain mover. That would be a good complement to Thomas and the burner Olave.
