Here’s another challenge for the New Orleans Saints offense: replacing Marcus Maye at safety. It’s been reported that the Saints will release Maye at the start of the new league year on March 13, buying them time to make decisions on other players before filing his release with the league office.
Even if Maye’s availability was a concern (he missed a full 17-game season’s worth of time with injuries and a suspension through two years), the Saints still need to account for his loss in the secondary. Between in-house options, draft prospects, and free agents, here are six candidates to watch:
Jordan Howden
Howden is the obvious candidate to replace Maye next to Tyrann Mathieu, but it’s not as sure a thing as you’d think. He fell behind veterans like Johnathan Abram on the depth chart late in the 2023 season, but whether that’s the coaching staff not wanting to start a rookie over the top or him not performing as well in practice as his competition remains to be seen. Either way, he should at least be competing for the job in 2024.
Johnathan Abram
Abram initially came into games off the practice squad for the Saints, but after Marcus Maye suffered a season-ending injury he was called up. And his role grew by the week to where he started in Maye’s place through the last two games (including an impressive effort against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in which he intercepted a pass, forced a fumble, deflected another throw and finished with 5 tackles). But he’s a free agent, and there’s a chance he leaves for another opportunity.
Lonnie Johnson
Johnson was regarded very highly by the coaching staff and played well on limited snaps, but he missed time early on with a hamstring issue and was ultimately sidelined by a knee injury to close out the season. He’s also going to be a free agent in a few weeks. It shouldn’t be hard to re-sign him but he’s largely an unknown in this role, having never played more than 24 snaps in a single game for the Saints.
Mike Edwards
Edwards is a player the Saints know well — he suited up against them often with the division-rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2019 to 2022, before joining the Kansas City Chiefs this past season as their third safety. He’s got great ball skills but struggles to tackle cleanly, and he’s a little undersized for New Orleans at 5-foot-10. They’ve only really made an exception for breaking the prototype for Tyrann Mathieu. If the Saints are going to replace Maye with another veteran, they’ll probably do so with a second- or third-tier free agent like Edwards.
Jaden Hicks
Hicks is an option in the earlier rounds, though he’s currently projected to be a third-round pick. There are questions about his long speed after he declined to run the 40-yard dash at the combine, but he did well in the jumps and agility drills and he has NFL size for the position. He lined up all over the Cougars defense the last few years while logging hundreds of snaps at safety, where he’s expected to play in the pros.
Ryan Watts
If the Saints are comfortable drafting and developing a player, Watts is a great prospect — he hit the athletic thresholds the team values in drills at the combine, with an impressive Relative Athletic Score of 9.84. But there’s a catch: Watts only rarely lined up at safety in college, predominately playing outside at cornerback for both Texas and Ohio State. The Saints haven’t shied away from position-switches before, though, and it’s worth taking the risk on a late-round prospect like Watts. He just can’t be expecting to cover the deep thirds right away.
