The Saints have a clear need at wide receiver and two shots to address it in the first round of the upcoming NFL draft, but could that help arrive in a different way in the form of Jarvis Landry?
The five-time Pro Bowler and former LSU standout remains one of the top names on the free agent market and is set to host the Saints this week, according to multiple reports.
Landry, 29, is a free agent after spending the past four seasons with the Cleveland Browns alongside another former LSU star and current free agent Odell Beckham Jr. Should the Lutcher native land in New Orleans, he'd immediately bolster the receiving corps alongside Michael Thomas, adding a player with 688 career catches for 7,598 yards and 37 touchdowns. Landry's career got off to a scorching start with the Dolphins after being selected in the second round by the Dolphins in 2014, averaging 100 catches per season over the first four years of his career in Miami.
His usage dipped slightly with the Browns, though he still logged 70-plus catches in his first three seasons there before an injury shortened 2021 season saw him snag just 52 catches for 570 yards and two touchdowns over 12 games. One element that may have led to Landry's extended stay as a free agent has been his reported asking price, which was reported earlier in the offseason as in the range of $20 million per year during an offseason that has seen WR contract values skyrocket following Christian Kirk's eye-opening 4-year, $72 million with the Jaguars early in free agency.
It's unclear whether that asking price has shifted this late in the game, but the Saints do find themselves in good position to field a competitive offer as owners of the 6th-most cap space for the 2022 season, per OverTheCap.
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The Saints are also in the market for another pair of former Tigers stars in safety Tyrann Mathieu, who visited the team earlier in the month and remains unsigned, along with linebacker Kwon Alexander who has played the past two seasons in New Orleans but was reportedly visiting the Saints this week.
Whether any of those players sign with the Saints, they'll have ammunition to address positions of need at WR and safety if they so choose in the draft as owners of picks at Nos. 16, 19 and 48 in the second round. It's a particularly deep field at WR, with many projections indicating the team could land one of Alabama's Jameson Williams, Ohio State's Chris Olave or Arkansas' Treylon Burks with one of those selections.
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