Saints cornerback Alontae Taylor is “on the radar of a few teams,” according to ESPN’s Matt Bowen and Jeremy Fowler, making him a surprise trade candidate two weeks before the deadline.
“The Saints don’t want to trade Taylor but would consider it if they receive a strong offer,” added Bowen and Fowler.
Recent comments from Saints general manager Mickey Loomis align with that reporting. He revealed on Tuesday that he had received inquiries regarding multiple players.
“We’ll look at each thing individually. We’ll discuss it.” Loomis said (via ESPN’s Katherine Terrell). “But I’m not in the business of trading away good players unless the deals are just too good to refuse.” He declined to comment on any specific players.
Taylor, 26, has been a starting cornerback for the Saints since he entered the league, logging 31 pass defenses in his first three years. The 2022 second-rounder has spent almost equal time in the slot and on the boundary, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required). He could be upgrade to a playoff hopeful in need of cornerback help, especially one that could use a nickel with some playmaking ability. The Colts, Raiders, and Patriots are among the teams with reported interest in adding a cornerback who could be in on Taylor.
The Saints’ cap situation will likely make it hard for them to retain Taylor after an explosion in the cornerback market this offseason. They could probably find a way to free up enough money to offer him a competitive deal with another round of seemingly endless restructures, but the team has invested in multiple young defensive backs in the last two drafts.
Furthermore, data from OverTheCap shows that the Saints have not spent heavily on the cornerback position under Loomis. In fact, Marshon Lattimore is the only homegrown corner the Saints have signed to a multi-year extension in Loomis’ tenure. They later traded Lattimore and also let Paulson Adebo walk in free agency this year.
A bigger consideration for the Saints might be Taylor’s value on the trade market relative to his value in free agency. The Saints’ financial issues may prevent them from making any aggressive moves in free agency, in which case their top departing free agents are more likely net them compensatory picks in the 2027 draft. The front office will have to weigh Taylor’s future earning potential and how that would factor into the compensatory formula against the offers they’re getting for a trade right now.