New Orleans Saints defensive tackle David Onyemata shared Friday on Instagram that he has been suspended to start the 2021 NFL season after testing positive for a banned substance. With two of the top three Saints defensive tackles (Malcolm Brown and Sheldon Rankins) leaving the team this offseason, depth along the line was already worryingly thin.
The Saints will likely need to add a tackle to the roster in order to help fill the void Onyemata’s loss will create. Of the seven defensive tackles left on the roster, only one of them was drafted to enter the NFL, and he (practice squad holdover Ryan Glasgow) is also the only one with more than three years’ experience in the league.
An experienced option to hold it all together would be nice, but it’s worth noting everyone still available is either older, returning from injury, or both. Here are five free agent options New Orleans could pursue:
