{"id":245670,"date":"2025-09-08T14:40:52","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T18:40:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=245670"},"modified":"2025-09-08T14:40:52","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T18:40:52","slug":"breaking-saints-may-sign-top-free-agent-after-latest-julian-blackmon-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/09\/08\/breaking-saints-may-sign-top-free-agent-after-latest-julian-blackmon-injury\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking: Saints May Sign Top Free Agent After Latest Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It just got brutal for the New Orleans Saints after their Week 1 loss, and now they lost safety Julian Blackmon due to a torn Labrum injury. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/saints\/saints-news\/saints-lose-3-million-starter-potentially-for-rest-of-2025-pat3#:~:text=Blackmon%20had%20surgery%20in%20January,is%20lost%20for%20the%20season.\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">According to the breaking news<\/a>, the Saints will be forced to move on without Blackmon after suffering an injury in the matchup against the Arizona Cardinals. It could require a season-ending injury, and if that happens, then the Saints should be in the market for a safety to find someone who can complement Justin Reid. This is where <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2021\/03\/19\/denver-broncos-agree-justin-simmons-extension\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Justin Simmons<\/a> can come into the equation, as he&#8217;s still available in the free agent market, so it should be any day that he might sign with the Saints.<\/p>\n<p>Originally selected in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft, the former Boston College product is still out of a job, but the only complication is that he wants to sign with a contender. Simmons is a two-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro, recording 666 total tackles, 71 pass deflections, 32 interceptions and three fumble recoveries, so it&#8217;s no secret he wants to put his abilities to the test before he gets older. He probably doesn&#8217;t want to waste his talent on a team like the Saints that is in rebuild mode, but the team could offer a deal that he can&#8217;t turn down. These three contenders could intervene and snag the safety right before Week 2.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_238841\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-238841\" style=\"width: 826px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-238841\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/07\/Julian-Blackmon-Free-Agent-300x206.jpg\" alt=\"Julian Blackmon Free Agent\" width=\"826\" height=\"567\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/07\/Julian-Blackmon-Free-Agent-300x206.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/07\/Julian-Blackmon-Free-Agent-1024x702.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/07\/Julian-Blackmon-Free-Agent-768x526.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/07\/Julian-Blackmon-Free-Agent-1536x1053.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/07\/Julian-Blackmon-Free-Agent-2048x1404.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 826px) 100vw, 826px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-238841\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Josh Reynolds (87) works to bring down Indianapolis Colts safety Julian Blackmon (32) after he intercepted a pass Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, during a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Breaking: Saints May Sign Top Free Agent Justin Simmons After Latest Julian Blackmon Injury &#8211; 3 Other Suitors<\/h2>\n<h3>Possible Fits<\/h3>\n<h4>Baltimore Ravens<\/h4>\n<p>It was going well for the Baltimore Ravens in their matchup against the Buffalo Bills, but the defensive secondary completely collapsed. Despite bringing in two cornerbacks in <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/02\/27\/packers-select-potential-jaire-alexander-replacement-in-latest-mock-draft\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Jaire Alexander<\/a> and Chidobe Awuzie, it wasn&#8217;t enough to stop a competitive offense like the Bills, whom they lost to in last year&#8217;s postseason divisional round. Let&#8217;s say the Ravens still have a solid secondary that can help them win most of the matchups, but what they need is to win the huge moments. With <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/45134871\/source-ravens-ardarius-washington-suffers-torn-achilles#:~:text=OWINGS%20MILLS%2C%20Md.,the%20NFL%20over%20that%20span.\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Safety Ar&#8217;Darius Washington still nursing an injury<\/a>, the Ravens haven&#8217;t gotten a replacement that could be a solid fit behind 2025 draft pick Malaki Starks.<\/p>\n<p>Simmons, wanting to play for a contender, could fit his role in this Ravens secondary. He won&#8217;t be the same athlete he once was a few years ago, but he might turn this secondary around, pairing with Kyle Hamilton, who is coming off his best season in his career last year.<\/p>\n<h4>Dallas Cowboys<\/h4>\n<p>Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys showed out in their secondary field of play against the Super Bowl champions in Week 1. However, this doesn&#8217;t mean the team can&#8217;t continue upgrading their safety unit. After <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dallascowboys.com\/news\/markquese-bell-cowboys-agree-to-terms-on-multi-year-contract-extension#:~:text=Markquese%20Bell%20signs%20multi%2Dyear,the%20Right%20of%20First%20Refusal.\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">extending Markquese Bell<\/a> before Donovan Wilson, it&#8217;s clear that Wilson might be playing out his current deal. Simmons might be open to joining the Cowboys at some point if they appear to be contenders.<\/p>\n<h4>Kansas City Chiefs<\/h4>\n<p>Speaking of the postseason, the Chiefs don&#8217;t look the same after their loss against the Chargers, but it doesn&#8217;t mean they won&#8217;t be in the playoffs next year. The Chiefs are in dire need of safety depth, losing Deon Bush. Between <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/04\/13\/jaden-hicks-2024-nfl-draft-profile\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Jaden Hicks<\/a> and Bryan Cook, Simmons could find his role even if it&#8217;s situational.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The New Orleans Saints could sign this top free agent since they may lose their starting safety to a season-ending injury. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4795,"featured_media":245671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,10,19,16,28],"tags":[7723,7811,7422,9481,32494,32064,5455,7466,8560,7752,7638,7659],"class_list":["post-245670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-ravens","category-cowboys","category-chiefs","category-saints","tag-baltimore-ravens-news","tag-chiefs-featured","tag-dallas-cowboys-news","tag-donovan-wilson","tag-jaden-hicks","tag-julian-blackmon","tag-justin-simmons","tag-kansas-city-chiefs-news","tag-kyle-hamilton","tag-new-orleans-saints-news","tag-ravens-featured","tag-saints-featured"],"modified_by":"Anthony Palacios","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4795"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245670"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":245676,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245670\/revisions\/245676"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}