Everyone has their take on what the New Orleans Saints should do this offseason — including Cameron Jordan, who ended his offseason social media hiatus to lobby for his team’s pursuit of former Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr. But what if Jordan himself goes on the move? Would trading him be a consideration?
The latest proposal comes from Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine, who suggests the Saints could kick off a rebuild by trading Jordan to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for a second-round pick in 2023 and a third rounder in 2024.
On the one hand, that’s strong value for an aging player. It would put the Saints on the board three times in a 23-slot span this April, and it would return the third-round pick they sent to the Denver Broncos next year. New Orleans would go on the clock at Nos. 29 (first round), 41 and 53 (second round), plus 72 (third round) through the first two nights of the 2023 draft. That’s appealing, but it isn’t enough.
And on the other hand, this doesn’t help the Saints out financially. They would be left with a $23.4 million dead money payout for Jordan that might otherwise go to different players. Trading him saves only $2.2 million against the salary cap. It’s in their interest to either restructure Jordan’s contract or sign him to a new deal this spring, saving more than $10.6 million while keeping a top defender in the lineup.
And offloading Jordan like this could be hazardous for the state of their defensive line. Starters David Onyemata and Marcus Davenport are both free agents, as is top backup Tanoh Kpassagnon and every other defensive tackle who got into a game for New Orleans last year. The Saints badly need Jordan’s stable presence in the defensive front while renovating the unit around him. That’s to say nothing of Jordan’s value to the team as a leader and steadying presence in the locker room.
Maybe a first-round pick would be worth it (and Seattle owns two of them, at Nos. 5 and 20) but it’s very unlikely the Seahawks would trade those kinds of assets for a 33-year-old pass rusher. Given the salary cap penalties involved, there probably isn’t a realistic price the Saints could find an interested team to agree to in trading for Jordan at this point in the offseason. Playoff hopefuls like Seattle will need to look elsewhere to cure what ails them.