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The New Orleans Saints have some major boxes to check ahead of NFL Free Agency in the coming weeks. On top of bringing in some new talent that currently sits on the market, they have the job of replacing one of their best defensive linemen in Marcus Davenport.
2023 in review
Davenport has become quite the free agent commodity, despite only appearing on 50 percent of defensive snaps for New Orleans last season. His sack numbers declined drastically from 9.0 in 2021, to 0.5 in 2022. So what makes him appealing to other franchises beyond the Saints? Potential. That’s what opposing defensive coordinators see out of the 26-year-old pass rusher. He’s talented, a recent first-round draft pick that can amplify a game on any given play, and become the missing piece to a burgeoning defense.
Do the Saints want to keep him?
As it was eluded to earlier, the Saints have many positions that they need to address. Which, of course, is not a simple feat with the minimal cap space they have at their disposal. They will likely pursue less expensive options on the D-line to recreate Davenport’s 2022-23 production in the aggregate.
Rumored interest
Update, March 13 — Davenport is signing with the Vikings in free agency, per reports.
The Kansas City Chiefs, Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens are all suitable landing spots for Davenport, and all of them appear to have mutual interest.