Even if they refuse to outwardly admit it, the New Orleans Saints are a rebuilding football team. The Saints are a significantly younger squad than they’ve been for several years. Veteran stalwarts like Cameron Jordan and Demario Davis are winding down their spectacular careers. While Davis and Jordan are still major contributors and standout players, there are a few veterans on this team that cannot say the same.
New Orleans enters Week 3 traveling to face the Seattle Seahawks with an 0-2 record. It’s not the fault of any one or two specific players, but it’s also become clear that there are a couple liabilities in this lineup. If the Saints are truly looking to get younger and develop a more youthful core, here are a few veterans that should be replaced sooner than later at their positions.
LinebackerVeteran: Pete Werner ($2.886 million salary cap hit)Replacements: Danny Stutsman, Jaylan Ford, Isaiah Stalbird
In his fifth year, Werner has started 58 games and has played 90% (123) of the defensive snaps through two games so far. He’s been a mainstay alongside Demario Davis and has always been a good run defender and instinctive player around the line of scrimmage. Werner has also been a liability in space, particularly in pass coverage, throughout his career and one that opposing offenses game plan to exploit. This is not to suggest that Werner can’t contribute defensively. Coordinator Brandon Staley would be wise to limit his snaps, especially against spread formations and obvious passing situations.
Rookie fourth-round choice Danny Stutsman is a thumper with an old-school playing style. Stutsman struggled at times in coverage at Oklahoma and doesn’t necessarily offer an athletic upside to Werner. Second-year linebacker Jaylan Ford did excel in coverage duties with the Texas Longhorns. Ford is a superior athlete to Werner and offers terrific sideline-to-sideline range with good coverage instincts. Isaiah Stalbird began his collegiate career as a safety before moving to linebacker as a junior. Stalbird has been terrific on special teams so far this season and would be an athletic upgrade even just as a nickel linebacker in passing situations.
Neither Stutsman, Ford, and Stalbird have yet to play a defensive snap this season. If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results, than opponents are capitalizing repeatedly when Pete Werner is on the field against the pass. At the very least, it’s time to limit reps and give opportunities to Stutsman, Ford, or Stalbird in different situations. If any or all three perform better, then perhaps Werner can even be moved before the trade deadline to a linebacker-needy team in exchange for a draft choice.
Right guardVeteran: Cesar Ruiz ($5.866 million salary cap hit)Replacements: Dillon Radunz, Torricelli Simpkins
Let’s be both honest and obvious; Ruiz is not only the weakest link on the offensive line, he’s the biggest liability on this offense by far. And sadly, this isn’t a new development this year. Ruiz has been a human turnstile for defenders for the last few seasons, but actually seems to be getting worse. His play has been so bad that it’s doubtful he’d even bring anything at all back as a trade asset. While Ruiz may not be a tradable commodity, the Saints could at least do their entire unit a favor by getting him off the field.
Dillon Radunz has played well in relief of an injured Trevor Penning. When Penning (toe) returns, the most obvious solution would be to put him or Radunz at right guard in place of Ruiz. Another option could be undrafted rookie Torricelli Simpkins, who was the best of all the backup offensive linemen in preseason. Simpkins is an unknown, but would be the younger option, while Radunz/Penning may be the safer bet. If you’re the Saints at this point, you have to realize that it truly can’t get much worse.
CornerbackVeteran: Isaac Yiadom ($1.96 million salary cap hit)Replacement: Quincy Riley
In 2023, Yiadom stepped in for New Orleans as an injury replacement and broke up an impressive 14 throws while allowing 48.9% completion percentage when targeted. That turned out to be an aberration. Through two games this season, opponents have successfully targeted Yiadom on 9 of 10 throws for an average of over 10 yards. He has yet to officially record a pass breakup and has tacked on a couple of costly defensive penalties.
What might be even worse is that if Yiadom hits a certain snap count threshold this season, he’ll cost the Saints a compensatory draft choice next spring. There aren’t many options for New Orleans here. One is to play Alontae Taylor more at outside corner to limit Yiadom’s defensive reps, but Taylor flourishes best when moved around the defense. Another solution could be to try rookie fourth round choice Quincy Riley at corner. Riley has yet to play a down on defense this year and would certainly be heavily targeted due to his inexperience. But again, how much do Brandon Staley and the Saints need to see before coming to the conclusion that Yiadom is a liability in the secondary?
Perhaps Werner, Yiadom, and Ruiz turn things around against Seattle this Sunday. So early in the season, all three will likely be given the opportunity. New Orleans coaches should also consider the definition of insanity and at least explore if they have viable options at these vulnerable positions, because the current solutions have more than proven that they aren’t the answer.