The New Orleans Saints claimed veteran cornerback Janoris Jenkins off of waivers from the New York Giants on Monday, but they nearly added a second playmaker in Terrell Suggs. The former Arizona Cardinals and Baltimore Ravens pass rusher was claimed by the Kansas City Chiefs after being waived last week, but the Saints were one of four teams to try and pick him up.
As first reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Saints and Chiefs were joined by the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks in making waiver claims for the experienced sack artist. Because the Chiefs had the worst record of the group at 10-4 (a win percentage of .714), they were awarded Suggs.
He’ll arrive in Kansas City just hours after news broke that former Saints defensive end Alex Okafor, now with the Chiefs, would miss the rest of the season with a pectoral injury. It’s brutal news for Okafor, who recovered from an Achilles injury and bet on himself to play for a new contract with the Saints last year, ultimately earning a three-year, $18 million contract with Kansas City. It’s disappointing to see his year end this way, but at least he’s already secured the bag.
The Saints being interested in Suggs makes plenty of sense, especially in the wake of injuries to defensive linemen Marcus Davenport and Sheldon Rankins. They’ve already added a pass rusher with NFL experience in Noah Spence, but there’s no confusing him for Suggs; the 13-year veteran logged 5.5 sacks and 7 quarterback hits in 13 games with the Cardinals this year, adding to his career total of 138 sacks. It’ll be interesting to see how the Saints adapt to life out on the edge without Davenport starting opposite Cameron Jordan.
