With the start of training camp just days away, the Saints appear to have addressed one position of need by bringing in former Jets cornerback Brian Poole.
The deal is for one season, according to a report from ESPN’s Josina Anderson. No monetary figures were immediately disclosed.
Poole played collegiately at the University of Florida before going undrafted and signing with the Atlanta Falcons in 2016. Poole has spent the past two seasons on one-year deals with the Jets, but spent the final seven weeks of the 2020 season on IR due to shoulder and knee injuries. Poole was productive in those seven games, logging 41 tackles and two interceptions on 40 targets.
Poole logged a vast majority of his career defensive snaps (80.7%) at slot corner over his five NFL seasons. He's only played outside on 257 of his 3,526 total snaps, excluding special teams. It's unknown whether the Saints would shift him outside this season, with safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson taking the lion's share of work at nickel corner.
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The move marks one of the first tangible offseason additions for a team that has seen more and more positions of need arise as the season nears. New Orleans went into the offseason with a need at cornerback after the departure of Janoris Jenkins in a cost-cutting move as the Saints successfully shed more than $100 million to drop below the salary cap. The Saints drafted Paulson Adebo out of Stanford in the third round of this season’s draft.
With roughly $12 million of cap space cleared through a series of roster moves and savvy restructures, additional signings could be coming to address positions of need.
The Saints have already hosted former linebacker Kwon Alexander, with linebacker depth in question. The team will lean heavily on Demario Davis in the middle, but likely young players after that in second-year player Zack Baun and rookie Pete Werner.
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But defensive tackle and wide receiver have now developed as areas with significant depth concerns, at least early in the season. The Saints were already thin at defensive tackle with the departures of Sheldon Rankins and Malcom Brown, but will now be without David Onyemata for the first six games due to a suspension over a positive test for a banned substance.
The team is now in a similar situation with wide receiver Michael Thomas, who is expected to miss the beginning of the season recovering from ankle surgery he underwent in June. The team lost Emmanuel Sanders in another cost-cutting move. Their lone draft addition at the position was South Alabama's Kawaan Baker in the 7th round.
The Saints begin training camp practice on Thursday in Metairie, with the first open practice on Friday.
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