{"id":69747,"date":"2025-05-22T08:40:14","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T08:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/69747\/"},"modified":"2025-05-22T08:40:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T08:40:14","slug":"saints-will-cut-former-first-round-pick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/69747\/","title":{"rendered":"Saints Will Cut Former First-Round Pick"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Orleans Saints offensive tackle Trevor Penning is entering the final year of his rookie deal, but he may not survive to see the final year of that contract. A first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft<\/a>, Penning struggled through the first two years of his career before earning a full-time starting job in 2024 following Ryan Ramczyk\u2019s injury. Unfortunately, he wasn\u2019t up for the task, finishing the season with a 60.2 PFF grade, the 60th-best mark out of 81 eligible players.<\/p>\n

In a recent article<\/a>,\u00a0Bleacher Report\u2018s Kristopher Knox suggested the Saints could release Trevor Penning following that disappointing season and the addition of first-round pick Kelvin Banks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe New Orleans Saints used a 2022 first-round pick on offensive tackle Trevor Penning, but they haven\u2019t seen the Northern Iowa product emerge as a reliable starter,\u201d Knox writes. \u201cRoughly three years later, it could be time to pull the plug on the Penning experiment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TrevorAug 10, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; New Orleans Saints offensive tackle Trevor Penning (70) and center Cesar Ruiz (51) against the Arizona Cardinals during a preseason NFL game at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
\nSaints Could Cut Trevor Penning After Three Seasons \u2013 New Team Fits Emerge<\/p>\n

It\u2019s safe to say Trevor Penning never lived up to his first-round draft capital, but this might not be the end of the road for the veteran. There aren\u2019t enough good offensive tackles to go around, especially ones with experience on both sides of the offensive line. While nobody will make him their unquestioned starter, the following three teams could kick the tires on him if the Saints release him.<\/p>\n

Possible Fits
\nNew England Patriots<\/p>\n

New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel inherited a mess and did everything he could to build a team around franchise quarterback Drake Maye in one offseason. While the roster is considerably better, they still could use more depth at offensive tackle. First-round pick Will Campbell<\/a> is a high-risk, high-reward investment, and New England could use a Plan B in case his short arms prevent a successful NFL career. Trevor Penning may not be great, but the former Saints first-round pick is better than Vederian Lowe.<\/p>\n

Kansas City Chiefs<\/p>\n

The Kansas City Chiefs aggressively attacked the left tackle position in the offseason, spending big on veteran Jaylon Moore and using a first-round pick on Ohio State\u2019s Josh Simmons<\/a>. While left tackle should be fine, something must be done about the right side of the offensive line. Jawaan Taylor has been nothing but a liability since joining the team, and Trevor Penning could provide some much-needed competition if the Saints release him. The Chiefs can release Taylor with no financial repercussions next year, so they should start looking for a potential long-term replacement.<\/p>\n

Cincinnati Bengals<\/p>\n

Joe Burrow has the league\u2019s best wide receiver duo and one of the league\u2019s worst offensive lines. Offensive tackles Orlando Brown and Cody Ford are active liabilities at this stage in their careers, and 2024 first-round pick Amarius Mims<\/a> left a lot to be desired as a rookie. If the Saints release him, Trevor Penning might be able to start for this team and give Burrow an extra second to connect with star receivers Ja\u2019Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: Mark J. Rebilas \u2013 Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Orleans Saints offensive tackle Trevor Penning is entering the final year of his rookie deal, but he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69748,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2076],"tags":[5404,7,1492,896,55,2572,2571,6,397,6211,8581],"class_list":{"0":"post-69747","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-orleans-saints","8":"tag-chiefs-featured","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-kelvin-banks","11":"tag-new-orleans","12":"tag-new-orleans-saints","13":"tag-neworleans","14":"tag-neworleanssaints","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-saints","17":"tag-saints-featured","18":"tag-trevor-penning"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114550592668674551","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}