Trade talks are picking up around the NFL with the annual roster cuts deadline approaching on Tuesday and the start of the regular season looming not far behind, and it’s a good bet that the New Orleans Saints could make a deal with another team.
Whether it’s swapping a player for draft picks or exchanging one player for another, the Saints have a history of being both sellers and buyers at this deadline. They’re always active. New Orleans has made at least one trade (and sometimes two) near the late-summer deadline in six of the last seven years:
2022: C.J. Gardner-Johnson traded to Eagles
Gardner-Johnson was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles on Aug. 30, in exchange for a fifth-round pick (in 2023) and a sixth-round selection (in 2024) after contract talks fell out, fraying his relationship with the coaching staff.
2021: Trade with Texans for Bradley Roby
On Sept. 9 the Saints sent a third-round pick (in 2022) and a sixth-round pick (in 2023) to Houston, acquiring Roby just before their Week 1 kickoff game, envisioning him as veteran competition for Paulson Adebo at cornerback. Roby has played some valuable snaps in the years since and he’s expected to start in the slot this season.
2020: No trades at roster cuts
The Saints didn’t have any trades around the 2020 roster cuts deadline — but they did acquire veteran linebacker Kwon Alexander from the San Francisco 49ers in November, just before the NFL trade deadline. They swapped injured backup Kiko Alonso and a fifth-round pick (in 2021) for Alexander, who started a lot of games for them.
2019: Trade with Dolphins for Kiko Alonso
On Sept. 2, the Saints and Dolphins agreed to a simple player swap — New Orleans exchanging backup linebacker Vince Biegel for Miami’s Kiko Alonso. Alonso played some important snaps for the Saints until an injury sidelined him, and he was later sent to San Francisco to help them acquire Kwon Alexander. Biegel developed into a nice pass rusher with the Dolphins and took down Tom Brady with his first sack in the NFL.
2018: Multiple trades
The Saints closed a couple of deals around the 2018 roster cuts deadline:
- Aug. 29: Trade with New York Jets, acquiring QB Teddy Bridgwater and a sixth-round pick (in 2019) in exchange for a third-round pick (in 2019)
- Sept. 1: Trade with Cleveland Browns, acquiring a seventh-round pick (in 2019) for DT Devaroe Lawrence
Bridgewater proved to be a timely pickup, helping the Saints win five straight games when Drew Brees went down with an early-season injury. He left in free agency a few years later and brought back a nice compensatory draft pick. Lawrence was a solid rotational player in Cleveland.
The Saints later added New York Giants cornerback Eli Apple before the trade deadline (on Oct. 23), sending a fourth-round pick (in 2019) and a seventh-round pick (in 2020) for the starting corner. That fourth rounder was eventually traded to the Seattle Seahawks, who used it to pick defensive back Ugo Amadi; he’s currently competing for a roster spot in New Orleans.
2017: Trade with Eagles for Jon Dorenbos
This tr
ade (on Aug. 29) was scuttled when Dorenbos’ entry physical revealed a life-threatening heart condition, sending him into emergency surgery and ending his career. The Eagles returned the seventh-round pick (in 2019) that the Saints initially sent out for the veteran long snapper.
Later, on Oct. 10, the Saints traded running back Adrian Peterson to the Arizona Cardinals for a sixth-round pick in 2018 after then-rookie backup Alvin Kamara emerged as a better option.
2016: Trade with Dolphins for Chris McCain
The Saints played against McCain in a Dolphins preseason game on Aug. 28; needing better depth, they traded a conditional seventh-round pick (in 2017) to Miami for the veteran linebacker so he could try out in their final exhibition game. He didn’t make it through roster cuts, though, so this pick did not convey.
