After two years of devastating playoff exits, the New Orleans Saints find themselves in a state of flux. They went “all in” in 2018 only to find defeat in the NFC Championship game. Free agent signings and trades have left the Saints front office in a conundrum. The championship window being held open by Drew Brees is closing, and the Saints lack the resources to shore up weak areas. In order to overcome the disappointment of the past two seasons, the Saints must re-sign their own free agents. The two most important are Mark Ingram and Wil Lutz.
New Orleans Saints Free Agency: Players Who Need to Be Re-Signed
The Draft and the Cap
New Orleans sacrificed this years’ draft. Aggressive trades have left the Saints with a depleted draft stock. Their first pick doesn’t come until the end of the second round. It will be the team’s lone pick in the first four rounds. The Saints do have two picks in each of round five, six, and seven. However, with the Saints’ considerable depth, the team will be hard-pressed to find someone to make the final 53-man roster, much less a difference maker.
Also, cap space is an issue. New Orleans currently ranks 28th in the NFL with $6.5 million in available cap space. General manager Mickey Loomis has been masterful in mortgaging the future while trying to return the Saints to championship glory.
What does remain is a team deep with talent. The right mix of savvy veterans and promising young talent have given New Orleans the leadership needed to recover from the tragic ends to the 2017 and 2018 seasons. The chemistry of the Saints locker room has been paramount over the past two years. Maintaining that fluidity and continuity is the key to continued success in 2019. The Saints do not need to overpursue during free agency, but should rather focus on their own. Key among those is Ingram and Lutz.
Mark Ingram: Priority 1A
Ingram, 29, joined the Saints as the 28th pick in 2011 draft. New Orleans traded back into the first round to draft, making Ingram the first running back selected. He has since become the Saints career rushing yard leader.
One of the league’s more dependable backs, Ingram has averaged over four yards a carry every season since 2013. Ingram has never been the “featured back” in Sean Payton‘s offense. As a result, he has remained durable and consistent.
He has only topped 200 carries three times, with the highest being 230. Ingram topped 1,000 yards in 2016 and 2017 before turning in 645 in 2018. (Ingram was suspended four games in 2018.) For his career, Ingram has 6,007 yards and 50 rushing touchdowns. Yet, he has only averaged 12.5 carries a game through eight seasons. Ingram has also contributed 1,598 yards receiving during his Saints tenure.
The Saints have been in the top 10 in offense every since Ingram was drafted. In fact, the last time New Orleans was outside of the top 10 in offense was the year prior to Ingram being drafted. Over the past two seasons, Ingram and Alvin Kamara led the Saints to the number six rushing offense in 2018 and number five in 2017. Both seasons culminated in playoff appearances.
Ingram is the hammer in the New Orleans Saints offense. He is the mechanism Payton uses to batter and break the will of opponents.
Ingram’s role on the this team has been the most important aspect of Ingram’s career. Ingram is a strong locker room presence and a proven leader. He has served as the “big brother” to Kamara. He is the positive energy that the team seeks in times of doubt. Losing Ingram would be another in a long line of disappointments.
Wil Lutz: Priority 1B
An important cog in the machine that is the Saints is Lutz who is a restricted free agent in 2019. Following a season in which placekickers as a whole struggled, kickers with Lutz’s track record will be at the top of most teams wish list.
Undrafted out of Georgia State of the Sun Belt Conference, Lutz finished the 2018 season with a 93.3 percent conversion rate (28 of 30). Also, he converted 98.1 percent of his extra point attempts. He only missed one out of 58 attempts.
Lutz earned the NFC Special Teams Player of the Month in September, having made 10 of 11 attempted field goals and 11 of 11 extra point attempts.
Lutz has a career 87 percent success rate and has yet to miss from inside of 30 yards. His career long is 57 yards.
Other Needs
The Saints do have other needs which need to be addressed via free agency. Tight end and defensive tackle are positions of need. There are no viable options there to fill these positions on the current roster.
There are also others on the team that need to be re-signed, but don’t necessarily meet the “have to” category. P.J. Williams turned in a impressive season after a rough start to the campaign. However, with Patrick Robinson returning this year from injured reserve, Williams is more of a luxury. Craig Robertson provides valuable depth to a strong linebacking unit. He is also a key special teams contributor. Alex Okafor has provided quality pass rush and line play over the past two seasons. However, Marcus Davenport is expected to take a leap next season, making Okafor expendable.
Loomis will get the most of the available cap space and tactical maneuvering will generate more flexibility to fill out the roster, but re-signing Ingram and Lutz will go a long way in the Saints 2019 success.
