New Orleans Saints: 5 offseason needs

The New Orleans Saints are attempting to make the most of Drew Brees’ final years, and a couple of upgrades could go a long way in that endeavor.

New Orleans is coming off a successful season. They won what is probably the NFL’s most difficult and competitive division. The Saints featured a historically great rookie class that should be the foundation for this organization for years to come.

While they wisely took a little bit off Drew Brees’ plate, the future Hall of Fame quarterback is still playing at a championship level. And the defense actually took a step forward. That being said, the Saints have some areas that need addressing.

5. Safety

Kenny Vaccaro is about to make some nice money on the free agent market, whether it is in New Orleans or elsewhere. The Saints have a promising pair of youngsters, Vonn Bell and Marcus Williams, waiting in the wings. But neither is as versatile or accomplished as Vaccaro and the Saints like to utilize a lot of three safety personnel groupings to give them many coverage options while masking some deficiencies at linebacker.

Vaccaro, Bell and Williams combined to play over 2,700 productive snaps for the Saints in 2017. Compounding matters, Vaccaro often acted as New Orleans’ slot cornerback. So if he isn’t brought back, the Saints might be looking for two new players in their secondary to play significant snaps. It should be noted that New Orleans does have Delvin Breaux returning from injury, but they still don’t presently have an answer at slot corner.