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Manuel
As of the time of this writing, the New Orleans Saints have yet to do anything crazy in the current free agency period.
By the time this is published on Sunday, that may very well have changed.
As of Thursday morning, the Saints are being mentioned as heavy players in the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes.
Watson, if you haven’t heard, was mentioned as having several (alleged) dalliances with massage therapists.
He was cleared of any legal charges earlier this week. So, naturally at that point, his long-anticipated trade market heated up.
There were several teams who showed interest in his services. Ultimately, four teams emerged as front-runners: New Orleans, Atlanta, Carolina and Cleveland.
All four of these teams made sense in some way. New Orleans and Carolina are in the market for a franchise quarterback, Atlanta is Watson’s hometown and Cleveland has a Baker Mayfield issue.
As of Thursday morning Cleveland is no longer in the running, Atlanta is up against it and is having difficulty making it work and Carolina is supposedly still somewhat of a player.
But, the Saints have somehow emerged as the front-runners.
Yes, those Saints. The same Saints who are more famous for their salary cap wizardry than their actual on-field product lately.
The same Saints who had to make tens of millions of imaginary dollars just to be able to sign a free agent this offseason. Or for that matter, field a team.
Those Saints …
They’re somehow emerging as a contender to trade for a quarterback who would account for a $35 million salary cap hit next season.
It makes no sense.
To make matters worse, they’re considering trading a fan-favorite and multiple offensive line starters to make it happen. All the while, their best offensive lineman over the past several years, left tackle Terron Armstead, is testing the free agent waters.
Who the heck knows how these negotiations have gotten as far as they have.
All social media reports are indicating that the Saints are pushing hard to convince Watson to waive his no-trade clause.
So, to review, the Saints are looking to give away the following to acquire a franchise quarterback: two offensive line starters, a starting safety, their dignity and their cap integrity.
It already seems like a lot and that fails to account for any potential draft picks that would be included in such a trade.
None of it makes sense to me, and frankly I’m not sure how New Orleans general manager Mickey Loomis pulls these feats off on a yearly basis.
To illustrate, the Saints went from being $84 million over the cap to $30 million under the cap and in a position to potentially trade for one of the best quarterbacks in football.
That’s a $114 million swing. With hardly a roster cut to be seen in the process.
To top it off, if Watson is acquired there’s an outside chance that the Saints will find a way to re-sign Armstead.
Even with Watson and Armstead, it isn’t a roster without holes.
They’d be replacing potentially the entire interior of their offensive line. They’re still without a secondary receiving threat outside of Michael Thomas, who himself we’re still not sure is 100 percent.
One thing is certain, 2022 is likely the last dance for this version of the New Orleans Saints.
They can’t restructure contracts and do this forever. There will be a day where the bill is too big and there will be a hard reset and rebuild.
But, apparently, 2022 isn’t the year that will happen.
And if the Los Angeles Rams proved anything during this past Super Bowl run, it is that the idea of going all in can work in the NFL.
Are the Saints banking on that proof of concept working for them? Perhaps.
Regardless, the only way this science experiment becomes worth it is if they hoist a Lombardi Trophy at the end of it all.
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