The New Orleans Saints are going to have to make some decisions this offseason, with plenty of quality or depth free agents in this class, they will need to choose who to keep and who to let walk. While this is not as high-leverage of an offseason as some others for them, there are definitely some decent pieces they need to consider in their plans for the future.
One of the players they will need to make a decision on is Lucas Patrick, who started 10 games at left guard this season while battling several injuries. While he may not have been perfect, he performed well in the circumstances he was given.
With that said, here is his career in a nutshell so far:
Career Stats
Patrick has been able to start 64 of his 107 career games through eight seasons in the NFL. He is one of the most disciplined lineman in the NFL as well, with only 18 total penalties in his entire career, and despite having 7 in 2023 with the Chicago Bears, he never had more than 4 in any other season.
In his eight seasons he has only given up 9 sacks, 119 pressures, and 18 QB hits, good for a career 97.5% pass blocking rate.
Snap Counts
Here are the offensive snap counts for the games Patrick played in over the course of each season:
- 2017 – 29% (227)
- 2018 – 29% (278)
- 2019 – 15% (137)
- 2020 – 90% (939)
- 2021 – 82% (911)
- 2022 – 65% (269)
- 2023 – 88% (958)
- 2024 – 79% (563)
2024 season review
When it comes down to it, 2024 was actually a pretty exceptional season for Patrick. In his 563 snaps, he had 0 sacks allowed, 10 pressures allowed, and only 3 total penalties. This strong performance was good for a 98.4% pass block success rate. Additionally, 7 of his pressures allowed came from only 2 games, one of which was after his injury (Week 16 against Green Bay Packers) so he should at least get somewhat of a pass for that.
Overall, it was a quality season for Patrick who was coming off one of his worst seasons.
Stay or go?
Lucas Patrick is a player the Saints should make an effort to keep around, as at minimum veteran depth. He feels like he would fit into the role of what James Hurst did when he was with the Saints, a spot starter who can fill the void at a few positions, and hold the spot for a rookie as they develop. While not a long term option, he no doubt had a solid season, and if the Saints can get him on a one- or two-year deal on similar value to his past contract per year, they should no doubt accept that.
