The New Orleans Saints made a trade for Miami Dolphins linebacker Kiko Alonso right after the NFL roster cuts deadline, but they may not be finished addressing the position. Saints head coach Sean Payton shared Monday that starting middle linebacker Alex Anzalone is expected to be ready for Week 1 against the Houston Texans, and that top backup Craig Robertson is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. That won’t prevent the Saints from evaluating all of their options.
Mike Triplett of ESPN reported that the Saints would bring in two rookie linebackers for tryouts on Tuesday: Maryland prospect Tre Watson and Alabama-Birmingham’s Tre’ Crawford. Watson’s NFL career also began with the Dolphins, where he spent the summer on their 90-man roster. Crawford did the same with the Atlanta Falcons.
Watson was highly-regarded by Pro Football Focus for his abilities in pass coverage (5 interceptions in his last year in college) and open-field tackling ability. The 2019 PFF Draft Guide credited Crawford as one of the draft class’s better pass rushers, having notched 9 sacks, 10 quarterback hits, and 27 other hurries in his senior year.
Additionally, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported that the Saints were hosting former Cleveland Browns linebacker James Burgess for a workout. Burgess is just 25 and entered the NFL in 2016, but has already spent time with six different teams including the Browns, Dolphins, New York Jets, Jacksonville Jaguars, Baltimore Ravens, and Los Angeles Chargers. He’s more of a special teams asset and backup pass rusher (4 sacks, 7 hits, 12 tackles for loss in his career).
The Saints may not sign any of these players; they frequently bring in free agents at a certain position to update in-house scouting reports and evaluate their options against players already on the roster. But it’s interesting that there’s so much activity around the depth chart at linebacker.
