Saints Nation: Saints Lose Out on Tracy Porter and Nnamdi Asomugha, Now What?

The Saints made it pretty clear that they weren’t going to stop at the signing of Keenan Lewis to upgrade their corners. The run they made at both Nnamdi Asomugha and Tracy Porter suggests another veteran corner was and is still in their plans. Unfortunately neither player will end up in New Orleans as they inked deals with other destinations in close succession this week. Porter signed a 1 year $2.5 milion deal with the Raiders, and Asomugha signed a 1 year $3 million deal with the 49ers. That tells me the Saints offered both of these guys less money than that, most likely around $1.5 million per year, similar to the money that Victor Butler made.

So where do the Saints turn now that neither player has worked out?

I don’t really see Charles Woodson or Antoine Winfield taking money that low, but you never know how the opportunity to win late in your career will motivate a player to settle for lowball cash. The good news is there is still a massive amount of veteran corners out there with tons of exeperience and some quality. Right now it’s a buyer’s market, and the Saints will find someone at a nice price that will help them.  Don’t believe me? Consider these names:

Nate Clements

Sheldon Brown

Marcus Trufant

Will Allen

Shawntae Spencer

Rashean Mathis

Mike Jenkins

Quentin Jammer

Chris Gamble (though he claims he’s retiring)

Terrence McGree

Antoine Winnfield

Charles Woodson

And that’s not even considering the possibility that the Saints could bring back a guy that gave them some pretty good play last year in Elbert Mack. All these guys with the possible exception of Gamble are looking for jobs and the market has settled. If Porter got a deal at $2.5 million, the Saints could pretty much have all these guys if they want to play in New Orleans for less, and if they are patient enough it could possibly be considerably less.  So while it’s a bummer Porter and Asomugha didn’t work out, don’t sweat it too much. The Saints will get a decent pro at a cheap price – like I said it’s a buyer’s market. On the other hand, I would definitely be sweating left tackle.