Saints trade for cornerback Bradley Roby to fortify secondary

As they continue to try to fortify their secondary, the New Orleans Saints will acquire cornerback Bradley Roby from the Houston Texans.

With a need for talent beyond Marcus Lattimore at cornerback, the New Orleans Saints are not standing pat as the first game of the season nears. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, they are set to acquire Bradley Roby from the Houston Texans.

What the Saints will send back to Houston in the deal is not clear yet, but it will presumably be a Day 2 or Day 3 draft pick as the Texans add draft capital. The Saints also added former Pro Bowl corner Desmond Trufant earlier in the week.

Roby will not be able to play for the Saints in Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers, as he serves out a six-game performance-enhancing drug suspension. But he will add experience to the Saints’ cornerback room, with his debut to come Week 2 against the Carolina Panthers.

Bradley Roby makes sense for the Saints, and the Texans offload a veteran

In 10 games for the Texans last year, Roby had one interception, seven pass breakups and 37 total tackles. He is entering the second year of the three-year, $36 million deal he signed with Houston in March of 2020, so the Saints will have him under contract through 2022. Prior to initially signing with the Texans in 2019, he spent his first five NFL seasons with the Denver Broncos.

According to Aaron Reiss of The Athletic, the Texans will clear a solid amount of cap space in the deal with only a little dead money. Reiss also offered a look at the new cornerback depth chart for Houston.

Because he’s a fairly expensive veteran, the 29-year old Roby was not a fit for the reset/rebuild in Houston. The deal to send him elsewhere is an acknowledgement of that, and it’s safe to assume the Saints weren’t the only contending team who had interest.