The 2019 NFL trade deadline is right around the corner, with teams having until 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Oct. 29 to agree to swaps. After that, trades are prohibited until the new league year begins in mid-March. However, it would be in the New Orleans Saints’ best interests to get a trade completed well ahead of schedule.
Any players they pick up within the next day or two would have an opportunity to pick up the playbook and, depending on the plan, maybe suit up for this week’s game with the Arizona Cardinals (on a limited basis, of course). After that, the Saints will go into their bye week, giving any new additions extra time to adjust to their new team and prepare for the second half of the regular season, and hopefully the playoffs.
Deadlines spur action in the NFL. The Saints are a good team, having earned a 5-1 record on the year so far with a backup quarterback (Teddy Bridgewater) stepping in to relieve the injured starter (Drew Brees), something few teams can boast. But they can get better. Here’s three opportunities to improve.
Saints trade David Onyemata for Eric Ebron and a Round 2 pick
The defensive line has been a strength of the Saints this year, and much of that is due to Onyemata’s influence. He’s a top-20 defensive tackle in the NFL in quarterback pressures (one sack, two hits, a dozen hurries) and has been consistently disruptive since returning from his Week 1 suspension. Unfortunately, he’s a top free agent-to-be in a crowded group of Saints whose contracts are up next year.
Onyemata is one of several starters who need new deals next March, including safety Vonn Bell, cornerback Eli Apple, and left guard Andrus Peat (to say nothing of quarterbacks Brees, Bridgewater, and Hill, each of whom is headed for some version of free agency). The Saints can’t pay all of them. Moving Onyemata now while the defensive line is stocked deep with talent, letting another team pay him and earning back some draft picks along the way, makes sense.
The Colts are a team who might be interested. They have several playmakers out on the edge but little interior presence, with just one notable defensive tackle in Grover Stewart (who is frequently double-teamed). Onyemata would really juice up their defensive line and likely earn a payday from the Colts in the offseason; they’re projected to have well over $100 million in cap space to spend.
On top of that, Indianapolis has two picks in the second round next year (their own, and a selection acquired from Washington). Giving up one of those along with Ebron, a talented pass-catching tight end who’s buried on the depth chart (he’s been outsnapped by Jack Doyle, 311 to 179), would be fair compensation for an ascending player at a position of need. The Colts get a big upgrade, while the Saints pick up future draft assets and someone who can help the offense get back on track right away.
Saints trade Andrus Peat and Round 3 pick for A.J. Green
Yes, the Bengals have used every opportunity to say they won’t trade Green. It’s not something they’re interested in, choosing instead to be patient with the best player on their team as his recovery from an ankle injury continues to drag on. But as the 0-7 Bengals spiral further and further down and they begin to look towards next year, what do they have to look forward to?
Green is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent in 2020, and he’d be insane to re-sign with a team that’s never invested in getting him much help. They’ve tied him to a mediocre quarterback from the day he was drafted, pairing a top-five receiver with Andy Dalton. He needs to get out and look for greener pastures while his body is still able to hold up.
That’s where the Saints come in. The thinking in moving Peat is similar to our suggestion for the Onyemata-Colts trade; Peat will be a free agent in the spring, and the Saints shouldn’t re-sign him. He’s never lived up to his draft status as an early first-round pick, struggled at multiple spots, and is currently the weak link in one of the better offensive lines you’ll see around the league. Better to move his contract now and get something in return than get nothing later. They already have options to replace him in sixth man Will Clapp and veteran left guard Nick Easton.
And why would the Bengals accept this offer? Let’s say they flip the script and agree to deal Green, first of all. Their offensive line is one of a few that would upgrade by adding Peat, whether he starts at left guard or at left tackle (he has experience at both positions). The Bengals address one of their biggest weaknesses, while the Saints get to roll the dice on a game-breaking talent at their weakest position group.
Saints trade their 2020 Round 4 pick for Mike Gesicki
Jared Cook was just starting to come along when he missed last week’s game against the Chicago Bears with an ankle injury. Before that, he was looking like a free agent bust who struggled to get on the same page with the rest of the offense, cutting his routes off too soon and mistiming his turn to catch a pass. Hopefully his ankle is a minor issue that won’t linger further into the season; we won’t know until the injury report drops on Wednesday.
In the meantime, the Saints are trusting a career backup (Josh Hill) and a bulked-up wide receiver who struggles to catch the ball (Dan Arnold) to fill out a very important part of the playbook. That’s simply not going to be good enough when the playoffs come around.
So maybe someone like Gesicki makes sense. The Dolphins drafted him early in the second round last season and then fired everyone involved with that decision, leaving him in an awkward position with a new front office and coaching staff. Right now, he’s playing sparingly (201 snaps in seven games) and ranks fourth on the team in targets (22), though he’s caught just 59.1% of those passes from a bad group of Dolphins quarterbacks.
A change of scenery would do Gesicki well, and the Dolphins probably wouldn’t balk at an offer as they continue to throw this season in the trash in hopes of suddenly recovering with a top quarterback prospect next year. He was an impressive tight end prospect out of Penn State, excelling at making catches above the rim and sprinting after the catch. He’s got a set of skills the Saints could put to great use.
Saints trade their 2020 Round 3 pick for DeVante Parker
Let’s stay in Miami, since they’ve traded just about everyone else already. It feels like Parker was put on the trade block the minute he was drafted, with fans and bloggers asking every offseason if this is the year he gets away from that sinking ship. Maybe the Saints can make that a reality.
The Dolphins’ fire sale has slowed down, but it hasn’t stopped. The Saints already worked out two deals with the new front office this year, moving up in the 2019 NFL Draft to get center Erik McCoy and swapping linebackers right around roster cuts (exchanging Vince Biegel for Kiko Alonso). There’s an open line of communication there.
Parker was the top option for Bridgewater when the two of them were college teammates at Louisville; they combined for 95 receptions, 1,692 yards, and 22 touchdown catches in their last two years together. If anyone has a good idea of Parker’s fit in the Saints offense, it’s Bridgewater.
Things haven’t gone well for Parker since he entered the NFL. He’s been surrounded by the organizational dysfunction that’s defined the Dolphins for the last few decades, with a carousel of subpar quarterbacks entering and leaving almost as often as the coaches. If the Saints can get him out of there, they’d have a largely-untapped talent at 6-foot-3, 216 pounds with 4.4-speed and plenty of NFL experience. He’s still just 26 years old, and is under contract until March 2021 on an affordable two-year, $10 million contract. He checks all the boxes of what the Saints are looking for.
