We’ve got 66 days to go until the New Orleans Saints kick off their 2024 regular season, which makes the current owner of the No. 66 jersey our Saints Player of the Day: Shane Lemieux.
The former New York Giants draft pick signed with the Saints this spring and entered a competition to start early on at OTAs. So what are realistic expectations for him in 2024? Let’s get to know him a little better.
- Name (Age): Shane Lemieux (27)
- Position: Offensive guard/center
- Height, weight: 6-foot-4, 310 pounds
- Relative Athletic Score: 6.64
- 2024 salary cap hit: $1,055,000
- College: Oregon
- Drafted: Fifth round in 2020 (New York Giants)
- NFL experience: 5 years
Lemieux played left guard in college and for most of his career in the NFL, though he’s had a little experience at right guard and center. He started most of his rookie season at left guard with the Giants but he allowed five sacks in nine games and was limited to a combined 147 snaps on offense over the next three years.
A big part of those absences was due to injuries. A September knee injury took Lemieux out for the entire 2021 season. In 2022, he suffered a preseason toe injury in August and wasn’t able to return until late in December, only to aggravate the same injury and miss the rest of the year. And his 2023 season ended with a torn biceps in October. Durability has been a major challenge for him.
Still, Lemieux was the primary backup for Nick Saldiveri at OTAs, though the second-year pro pulled away in front by the time minicamp came around. Lemieux has time to win the job but he isn’t the only experienced pro in the mix. The Saints also gave Lucas Patrick a look at the left guard spot, and Olisaemeka Udoh (who has started for Klint Kubiak before) is expected to compete there, too. The hope is for Saldiveri to blow away his competition and win the job cleanly. If that comes to pass, it’ll be Lemieux or one of those other veterans backing him up.
