Free agency is coming up quickly in March, and a dearth of quality defensive linemen in the market from around the league might be good news for some New Orleans Saints players looking for a payday. Just 13 of the 50 top free agents at Pro Football Focus play inside or outside along the defensive line, and several of them are career rotational players rather than reliable starters.
But Saints defensive linemen Marcus Davenport and David Onyemata have both been named “buyer beware” players ahead of 2023 free agency by PFF’s Sam Monson, seeing as they’re each coming off of a disappointing season with New Orleans. Here’s what Monson had to say about each of them:
DT David Onyemata
“The entire New Orleans defensive line underachieved this season, which may well spare any individual member from offseason scrutiny. Onyemata has been one of the most disruptive interior pass-rushers in the league over the last few seasons, but he managed just 35 pressures across 386 pass-rushing snaps this year.
His overall PFF grade of 64.0 is down almost 20 grading points from his performance over the previous two seasons, and he didn’t make anything like the same impact. Now that he has turned 30, that relatively ineffective season may have teams asking questions.”
Despite those concerns, Spotrac’s analysts have a hefty market value projection for Onyemata should he reach free agency. They’re predicting an average annual salary of $9.6 million for the veteran defensive tackle, comparing him to other experienced starters to sign new contracts recently like Quinton Jefferson (on the lower end), Shelby Harris, Larry Ogunjobi, and Fletcher Cox (on the higher end). That would be a tough contract offer for New Orleans to match, though not impossible if they can clear salary cap space in other areas. That’s complicated by the $10.1 million cap hit Onyemata leaves behind in dead money once his current deal voids.
DE Marcus Davenport
“Another member of the New Orleans defensive line that underachieved this year, Davenport was supposed to be the jewel of this year’s free agency class.
At just 26 years old, a career year this season would have seen him hit free agency as an elite-level pass-rusher just reaching his prime. Instead, he tallied just 34 pressures across 282 pass-rushing snaps and has only played more than 500 snaps in a single season once in his career. Davenport has consistently been a good lineman for the Saints but has never taken that step forward into great.”
Spotrac’s projection for Davenport is even rosier: they have him lined up for an average annual salary of $23.2 million, which the Saints cannot and should not try to match. Frank Clark set the basis for this figure at $20.8 million, which has only climbed higher by comparable players like Leonard Williams, DeMarcus Lawrence, and Myles Garrett. You have to think Davenport’s value takes a hit after such an underwhelming season (and in light of the worrying trends throughout his career), but there should be plenty of teams willing to roll the dice on him should he reach free agency.
