The New Orleans Saints didn’t have the best record, but saw their team grow quite a bit in Year 1 under head coach Kellen Moore. While the offense saw sparks behind rookie quarterback Tyler Shough, the defense also saw improvements throughout the year in both the run and the pass game under defensive coordinator Brandon Staley.
Improving the run defense was a key for the Saints last offseason, who made a couple of moves up front, drafting Bryan Bresee in the first round while also trading a 2026 draft pick
for defensive tackle Davon Godchaux.
Those two, paired with Nathan Shepard, were the keys for the Saints on the interior, with Godchaux playing that nose tackle role.
With part of the offseason complete, let’s now revisit that Godchaux trade and see how Year 1 was for the Saints.
Original terms of the Davon Godchaux trade to the Saints
New Orleans Saints receive: DT Davon Godchaux
New England Patriots receive: 2026 seventh-round pick (No. 224 overall)
How did Davon Godchaux play for the Saints in 2025?
Godchaux ended up playing in 16 games for the Saints, ranking third on the team in tackles in the run game with 29. He had 16 run stops, and New Orleans ranked seventh in the NFL in yards allowed per carry.
Godchaux had a similar rotational role like he did with the Patriots, playing in only 42 percent of the defensive snaps. He wasn’t much of a pass-rusher, recording only nine pressures and a pass rush win rate of 8.8 percent.
Overall, he provided snaps as an early-down defender for New Orleans, but didn’t have many tackles for loss (two) and was inconsistent with the penetration in the run game up front. He’ll be on the final year of his deal in 2026.
How did the Saints fare in the Davon Godchaux trade?
Overall, it was mixed results from Godchaux in 2025, with some of the younger players for the Saints taking over more as the season went on.
Godchaux’s snaps dwindled at the end of the year, and he didn’t have enough impact plays. Still, the cost of acquiring him was only a seventh-round pick, and the Saints aren’t paying significant money, with the defensive tackle having a $7.1 million cap hit this year.
With younger guys emerging, we’ll see what Godchaux’s role is this year as that early-down run defender, but the Saints will hope for more improvement from him with impact plays in 2026.
What did the Patriots do with the pick from the Davon Godchaux trade?
New England ended up trading the seventh-rounder in the Kyle Dugger trade last year, offloading yet another former starter that didn’t fit the defense. In that deal, the Patriots got a sixth-rounder for Dugger and the seventh-rounder.
Pittsburgh took safety Robert Spears-Jennings at No. 224, while New England ended up moving the sixth-rounder they got (No. 202) in the trade-up for Gabe Jacas at No. 55.
