USAT: Saints Wire audio clip

USAT: Saints Wire

Mar 11, 2022

This offseason has been all about maintaining cohesion, continuity, and familiarity for the New Orleans Saints. Those pillars could be rattled with the loss of one in-house free agent: safety Marcus Williams. Since joining the Saints as a part of their incredible 2017 draft class, Williams has been a cornerstone for Dennis Allen’s defense. With Allen elevated from defensive coordinator to head coach for 2022, the expectation arose that keeping Williams in the Big Easy would be a top priority. - So far, any efforts made to assure Williams’ return aren’t looking very successful as he is set to become a free agent next week — the Saints had an opportunity to use the franchise tag again and keep Williams, but chose not to. The loss of Williams jeopardizes that which the Saints have keenly focused their energy on since the departure of Sean Payton. It would lead to the team losing their most consistent playmaker in the secondary. - Since 2017, the Saints defense has logged 81 regular season interceptions. Despite 26 different players contributing to that total, Williams accounted for 15 of them (19%) on his own. He’s also added 17 pass breakups (38 total passes defensed) during that time including some incredible sideline-to-sideline plays. And of the 93 different players to log at least one snap on defense with New Orleans since Allen was named co-defensive coordinator back in 2016, Williams ranks second (4,778). Limit the scope to those who have played since 2017, Williams’ first in the NFL, and he leads the pack. That’s a lot of snaps played, and a lot of continuity, walking out the door. - What put Williams in position to make those remarkable plays was Allen’s defensive scheme. A system that allowed the former Utah Ute to play to his strengths as a single-high, last-line-of-defense safety. That style of defense will be challenged by losing Williams, regardless of who the Saints find to take his place. - While defensive back P.J. Williams has been backing up the position in recent years, he too is set to become a free agent. If New Orleans misses out on both of them on the open market, bringing in another option like fan-favorite Tyrann Matheiu is likely to lead to a change in how the Saints deploy their safeties. One adjustment would be rolling out more split-safety looks in Cover 2 or Cover 4. While New Orleans has been comfortable in those coverage shells in the past, the bread and butter of the defense has included the lurking centerfield play by Williams. - Thus, losing Williams would risk disrupting the plans New Orleans has had all offseason in maintaining continuity on what projects to be the stronger side of the ball in 2022. How they manage that and overcome it will be decided by their foresight in preparing for this potential loss. In letting Williams explore free agency instead of using the franchise tag for a second season, the Saints are seemingly signaling that they’re ready with alternative approaches beyond the star safety. What those approaches are will begin to take shape as free agency gets under way next week. - - List - - 4 free agents the Saints should let walk away - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Email - - - - - Sign up - - - - - - - - Like this article? - Sign up for the Saints Wire email newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning - - - - An error has occured - - - Please re-enter your email address. - - - - - - Thanks for signing up! - - - You'll now receive the top Saints Wire stories each day directly in your inbox.

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