Once upon a time, Trumaine Johnson was one of several high-profile cornerbacks the New Orleans Saints tried to bring into the fold. They made an inquiry about trading for him while he was playing for the Los Angeles Rams, back in 2017; Johnson didn’t want to sign a long-term contract with New Orleans, so the Rams declined the offer. It was one swing-and-a-miss in a sequence of them by the Saints, who also attempted to recruit then-free agent Josh Norman and trade for Malcolm Butler.
Instead, Johnson inked a five-year, $72.5 million deal with the New York Jets, earning $45 million in guarantees. He collected $34 million of it before poor performance cut his Jets career short. On Monday, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reported that Johnson would be released; Brian Costello of the New York Post confirmed it.
Johnson’s pending release might be part of a pattern. Norman was recently released by the Washington Redskins, who inked a five-year, $75 million agreement with him after the Carolina Panthers rescinded the franchise tag. On Monday, Norman signed with the Buffalo Bills and head coach Sean McDermott, in a reunion with his old defensive coordinator in Charlotte.
While Butler hasn’t been released yet, he hasn’t lived up to his billing since parting ways with the New England Patriots. He underwhelmed in the first season of his five-year, $61.25 million contract before going down with an injury in 2019. Now, the Titans can save more than $7.3 million against the salary cap by cutting him, should they need the extra resources with Derrick Henry and Ryan Tannehill both headed for free agency.
So what happened to the Saints after failing to land any of those three big-name cornerbacks? They ended up drafting Marshon Lattimore in the first round of the 2017 draft. He won Defensive Rookie of the Year and has been named to two Pro Bowls in his first three years, and should have his fifth-year option for 2021 picked up soon (it’s valued at a little over $11.6 million).
And the draft pick once bartered for Johnson? That 2017 second-rounder ended up being spent on free safety Marcus Williams, the franchise leader in interceptions over the last decade. Whether you chalk it up to skilled evaluating or simply luck — the Saints have set themselves up in a great position with cheap, homegrown talent after a series of strikeouts in search of the elusive, expensive home-run hit.
Maybe the Saints will be interested in Johnson again, despite his struggles with top-tier corner responsibilities in New York. They wouldn’t need him to man up against the best receivers every week; that’s what Lattimore and Janoris Jenkins are here for. What the Saints need is experienced depth behind those two starters, and it’s possible Johnson has changed his attitude after seeing the Saints succeed from afar the last few years (and after cashing in with the Jets). But the Saints may be better off looking for younger, less-expensive options, maybe through this year’s draft class.
