Will we see another exodus of talent from the New Orleans Saints this offseason? Last year they lost top free agents like left tackle Terron Armstead and free safety Marcus Williams, both of whom were ranked highly in the annual free agent rankings. A couple of their former teammates are listed in the early top-50 list from Pro Football Focus analyst Brad Spielberger, both of whom play along the defensive line: Marcus Davenport and David Onyemata.
There could be a lot of upheaval for the Saints defense up front. Davenport and Onyemata are joined on the list of pending free agents by Shy Tuttle, Kentavius Street, Tanoh Kpassagnon, Malcolm Roach, and Albert Huggins. Their only defensive linemen under contract for 2023 are Cameron Jordan, Carl Granderson, Payton Turner, plus practice squad holdovers Jabari Zuniga and Prince Emili. But here’s what Spielberger had to say about Onyemata and Davenport:
“Injuries once again hampered Davenport’s season, but he’s a remarkably effective pass rusher off the edge when healthy, and his talent alone could be worth the gamble in free agency — especially given the relative lack of edge rushers available. Since he entered the league in 2018, Davenport’s 17.8% pass-rush win rate and 13.9% pressure percentage are both top-20 marks among edge defenders, and he’s also earned a very respectable 82.1 run-defense grade for his career, which ranks 16th over the span.
Davenport has five straight campaigns grading above 70.0. The issue is that he’s yet to log 600 snaps in a single season. At the end of the day, top-20 edge defenders against the pass and run don’t reach free agency often, and while his injury list is long, it doesn’t include any devastating ligament tears.”
Davenport ranks No. 22 out of the top 50 free agents at PFF, and we can see where they’re coming from. Despite his injury history and struggles in finishing pressures as sacks, Davenport remains a very disruptive player and he would probably be welcome in many defensive line rotations around the league. It’s easy to see a Super Bowl contender like, say, the Buffalo Bills viewing Davenport as their missing piece. It also explains why the Saints may feel like he just needs one good season to justify everything invested in him. But how likely is that to happen?
“Onyemata started the 2022 season serving a six-game suspension after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance, and it’s fair to wonder if that had something to do with his 2020-21 season grades both being over 80.0 before earning his 64.0 mark in 2022. Nevertheless, Onyemata continued to be a very effective pass rusher from the interior, racking up 35 quarterback pressures. Over the past three seasons, Onyemata’s 11.4% pressure percentage ranks 11th among interior defenders, and he was still just shy of 10% in 2022. Onyemata turned 30 years old this season but still has some good football left in him.”
Onyemata just made the cut at No. 47 out of 50, and he’s seen as a very good player especially on passing downs despite having trailed off the last few years. He probably isn’t someone an entire unit should be built around, as has been the case for the Saints, but he would draw a lot of interest from teams looking for a quality starter who can take advantage of mismatches with unathletic guards. If Onyemata leaves in free agency, the Saints will take on a dead money salary cap hit of more than $10.1 million, comparable to the charges they paid for Drew Brees ($11.5) and Terron Armstead ($13) last year.
