Don't close the book on Kwon Alexander with the New Orleans Saints just yet.
The linebacker visited the Saints Tuesday, according to a report from Adam Schefter, and has been cleared from the Achilles injury that ended his New Orleans debut season early.
Alexander suffered the injury in a Week 16 game against the Minnesota Vikings. That marked his seventh game with New Orleans after being acquired in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers. He became a cap casualty early in the offseason, two years after signing a 4-year, $54 million deal with the 49ers.
The 26-year-old former LSU star rolled up 27 tackles, forced one fumble and recovered two others during that game, manning the WILL linebacker slot alongside Demario Davis, and often with C.J. Gardner-Johnson in the nickel role.
Schefter reported that other teams have also expressed interest in signing Alexander, but none were specified.
The Saints have spent premium picks on a pair of young linebackers in the past two drafts. In 2020 they traded up to select Zack Baun at the top of the third round, and they selected Pete Werner out of Ohio State at No. 60 overall in this season's draft.
The Saints could still be looking to add depth at the position in the form of Alexander, who has been posting workouts to show his process recovering from the injury throughout the offseason.
Should the Saints choose to bring in Alexander, they'll have a good chunk of change to work with. The team was forced to chop more than $100 million from their cap to start the offseason through cost-cutting measure and savvy restructures. Even without signing Marcus Williams to an extension and having him play the 2021 season on the franchise tag, the team had cleared $12 million in space with the extension of right tackle Ryan Ramczyk.
The Saints could theoretically sign players at multiple positions, with cornerback a popular target following the departure of Janoris Jenkins. The team has also hosted former Cardinals and Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick this offseason. Another position that looks suddenly thin is defensive tackle, with news last week that David Onyemata would be suspended for the first six games after testing positive for a banned substance.
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