The season for the New Orleans Saints has not gone as the organization had planned so far, and coming off a bye week, the Saints are in a very precarious situation.
As the division stands right now, the Saints are only one game out of first place. Every other team has three wins, with the Panthers, who have already had their bye week, sitting at four losses while the rest of the division has five.
This puts the Saints in a difficult situation. Do they make a move at the trade deadline to try to go
all in and win the division, or do they punt on the 2026 season because of the systemic issues and the need to acquire more young talent on cheap contracts for the long-term challenges ahead?
Looking at the roster as it stands right now, if the Saints wanted to bring in some players to help them win, they would have to spend future draft capital on the defensive side of the ball.
The Saints spent the entire offseason ignoring some major issues on defense, especially their inability to stop the run. They would have to start there, focusing on the line of scrimmage.
The first player to explore would be Grover Stewart, the interior defensive tackle for the Colts. Stewart is one of the best run-stuffing tackles in the league. During his NFL career, he has recorded over 400 total tackles and 13 sacks.
The issue with Stewart is that he has now been in the league for nine years. Do you feel comfortable with the Saints sending draft capital in exchange for a veteran who has been in the league this long?
Other options include Daron Payne of the Commanders, an eight-year veteran who can defend the run and add valuable interior pass-rushing ability, with 38 sacks over his career, and Dalvin Tomlinson.
Tomlinson is not as accomplished as Payne and Stewart, but he is a player known for his play and durability. He has not missed a start over his nine-year career, and on a team that struggles with health issues, this would be an immediate upgrade.
The Saints could also look at linebackers like Cody Barton of the Titans and Daiyan Henley of the Chargers.
But at this point, the Saints should not be comfortable giving up draft capital in a season like this one. This is not a team that is just a single player away from making a run.
It’s one thing to consider going on a championship run with the playoffs in sight, but this team is trying to make a run to win a poor division. This is a team trying to make a run to win eight or nine games.
This is not an acceptable position to be in when it comes to trading away future assets just to finish a season with fewer than double-digit wins.
As the trade deadline approaches, the Saints may want to consider trading players to acquire more assets.
But the issue is that the Saints don’t really have a roster constructed in a way that could bring back a haul like the Titans just received, which included two first-round picks and a fourth-round pick.
The best available player who could potentially bring back a high draft selection would be Chase Young. With the way Young is playing right now, the best the Saints could potentially get in return for him would be a second-round selection, primarily because this is his first year playing well and staying healthy.
At this point, Young is looking more and more like the heir apparent to Cam Jordan at edge rusher, and Carl Granderson has been able to complement him in a truly special way. However, Granderson’s play over the past few seasons has been up and down as well.
The Saints just signed Chris Olave to a top-10 contract extension among receivers in the league, so another team may not be willing to take on that contract.
Realistically, the Saints should look to move players like Justin Reid, Pete Werner, Spencer Rattler, Kendre Miller, and Cesar Ruiz.
These players are all playing in position groups that the Saints need to upgrade. Without them on the roster, it would not necessarily create massive holes that would be difficult to fill. Whatever compensation the Saints could get in return might potentially be more valuable than what they are currently getting out of those players.
It’s very interesting situation the Saints have put themselves in.
Do they build for a nine-win season now and make building something better in the future more challenging? Or do they try to build for the future, knowing they don’t have enough valuable assets to make the moves necessary to elevate the roster and improve the many different position groups that need attention?
Also, do you trust this coach and the vision he has for the roster at any point during this reconstruction? Can he properly utilize the players to get the most out of them?
The next few weeks will be very telling for this franchise, and the decisions made will have implications not only for the 2026 season but also for the foreseeable future in New Orleans.
What do you think the Saints should do at the trade deadline? Who do you think they should trade, or who should they trade for?
