The New Orleans Saints will be poring over the lists of unrestricted free agents from every NFL team, looking for players who can help the black and gold. So we’ll be highlighting the options each team presents, every day of the week and twice on Saturdays. We’ll get started with the Arizona Cardinals.
Unrestricted free agents
- DE Benson Mayowa
- DE Markus Golden
- DE Zach Moore
- DT Rodney Gunter
- FB Derrick Coleman
- FS Tre Boston
- K Phil Dawson
- LB Deone Bucannon
- LB Gerald Hodges
- OG Mike Iupati
- OG Oday Aboushi
- OT Joe Barksdale
- TE John Phillips
- WR J.J. Nelson
Options for the Saints
Defensive tackle Rodney Gunter is an intriguing free agent. He’s a nose tackle (listed at 6-foot-5, 305-pounds) just hitting his prime at 27 years of age. Gunter logged a career-high 44 combined tackles last year (32 solo, 12 for no gain or loss of yards) to go with 4.5 sacks and nine quarterback hits. That profiles him as a disruptive presence who can anchor the middle of the line, offering more upside than the Saints’ incumbent nose tackles — Tyeler Davison had just two tackles for loss or no gain, and Taylor Stallworth only one.
Safety Tre Boston is, arguably, the guy New Orleans should have targeted last year instead of Kurt Coleman. Boston has good size (6-foot-1, 205-pounds) and is also 27 years old. He’s recorded eight interceptions the last two years and set a career high in solo tackles last season (66), with six of his 79 total tackles going for a loss or no gain — good numbers for a safety. Coleman had just three such tackles, while Vonn Bell had nine and Marcus Williams just one. Boston would be a big get for the Saints.
The Cardinals fielded a poor offensive line last year, but either left guard Mike Iupati or right tackle Joe Barksdale could offer something to the Saints. Iupati will be 32 in May, while Barksdale recently turned 30. Iupati had his worst season as a pro last year and could be headed for retirement, though it’s possible the Saints could give him a shot as a backup behind Andrus Peat. Barksdale wasn’t graded much better, but the Saints offensive line could use some depth pieces with starting experience.
