Whew. The New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Chargers beat the buzzer, agreeing to move Trevor Penning seconds before the NFL trade deadline, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Penning has had to move around a lot during his time with the Saints, going from left tackle to right tackle to inside at left guard, and he’s never really found his way. Now he’s likely going back outside where he’s played his best football after the Chargers lost their bookend offensive tackles to season-ending injuries. Both Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater are out for the year.
It’s not immediately clear what the Saints are getting back for Penning, but multiple reports describe the return as “a future pick.” That suggests it won’t convey until 2027 or 2028, so stay tuned. Like the other player the Saints traded on Tuesday (Rashid Shaheed, going to the Seattle Seahawks), Penning is on track to become a free agent in 2026, so this gets the team a draft pick without having to worry about being picky in free agency and jeopardizing a compensatory draft pick. Good luck to him out west.