2025 was an interesting year all around for the New Orleans Saints, looking dismal to open up the season, but finding some form once Tyler Shough took over as the starting quarterback. Over the course of the last two offseasons, there has been a clear vision to let veterans walk in many cases and avoid paying top dollar at positions unless absolutely necessary.
One of the names that is going to end up coming into discussion sooner rather than later is cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry. After a back-and-forth rookie season, he built some really strong momentum in Year 2, following the hiring of Brandon Staley as the defensive coordinator. With two of his four seasons of the contract up already, an extension looms for the 2027 offseason, considering
he will obviously have no fifth-year option as a second-round pick.
After letting Alontae Taylor walk for a massive three-year, $58 million deal in 2026, and Paulson Adebo do the same for a three-year, $54 million contract, the cornerback room got a bit scarce. Now, as was indicated in a report from Easton Butler of 247Sports, the Green Bay Packers came calling about McKinstry "in the past" as well.
The Packers have been making calls for Cornerbacks across the league, per source. One name mentioned has been Joey Porter Jr, who is on the last year of his deal. Kool-Aid McKinstry is another name, whom Gute has called about in the past. A final name is Broncos CB Riley Moss,… pic.twitter.com/Dh1FemkZCv
— Easton Butler (@Easton__Butler) August 21, 2026
So far, the Saints have held on to McKinstry, and for good reason, logging 17 passes deflected and 3 interceptions last season, the former mark placing him sixth in the NFL for that respective metric. While he still has work to do, he has rapidly shown to be a reliable outside corner, allowing only a 58.7% completion rate.
Should New Orleans even consider dealing McKinstry? Odds are they will do so solely to see what they could get, but his value to this defense, especially in a cornerback room that has been extremely inconsistent, is very high. Retaining him and getting him locked down on a new contract following the 2026 season should be a priority for Kellen Moore and Mickey Loomis; we will see which direction they end up choosing in the near future, however.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Report: 2025 playoff team called about trading for Saints’ CB1
