The New Orleans Saints made a draft day statement when it came to Nick Saldiveri in 2023, but things got quiet very quickly.
Day 3 of last year's draft began with a move, with the Saints hopping up to the first pick of the 4th round to take the Old Dominion standout. The plan was to shift him inside to guard, an idea that was always indicative of a redshirt season of sorts. That's exactly what we got, with Saldiveri active for just a handful of games and getting on the field for just 37 snaps total throughout the season.
Fast-forward to this offseason, and it's been the second-year pro stepping into first team reps and, for now, fending off veterans to start at left guard following the departure of Andrus Peat and the retirement of James Hurst.
"I’m very, obviously, fortunate for the opportunity and it’s fun," Saldiveri said. "I mean, I’m excited to be out there playing ball and in this new offense you get to kind of like be free and just run and just play ball at the end of the day. So I’m very fortunate. I’m just having a great time.”
Saldiveri missed time early in the 2023 season with a leg injury, and he did deal with a groin or hamstring injury during minicamp that head coach Dennis Allen wasn't expected to be significant.
Things certainly won't get easier heading into training camp, and the team will have to weigh the viability of two young players teaming up to protect Derek Carr's blindside. Rookie Taliese Fuaga was shifted to the left side early in camp, and that's where the No. 14 overall pick should be expected to play this year.
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Veteran options that could step up include Lucas Patrick, Shane Lemieux and Oli Udoh.
“I think he’s doing some good things, and yet ... I don’t think you can get too high or too low or read to much into what we’re seeing out here," Allen said. "We’ll get a really good evaluation where everybody is once we really put the pads on and we start – we’re playing real football – but all that being said, in terms of execution, in terms of knowing what to do, in terms of getting to the right spots, I think he’s done a pretty good job.”
The performance of the rebuilt offensive line, assuming Ryan Ramczyk doesn't return from injury, will be a major question all season. Along with Saldiveri and Fuaga, former first-round pick Trevor Penning is making a shift to right tackle for what coaches have called a fresh start. That would mean three of out five new starters in a brand new scheme under coach Klint Kubiak.
It's a system that center and OL leader Erik McCoy termed as "offensive line friendly" and one that emphasizes athleticism. That's something that could certainly serve the youth in that room well.
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"I have to build off of last year and the way that I played, especially toward the end of the year, and then I have to be a constant encourager, because we have young guys, even though they’re super talented, we have young guys," he said. "Build them up, yo, like, we have to pursue greatness every day when we come out here if we want to be the offensive line the offense needs for us to be successful.”
The next time we'll see the Saints in action, and the next time Saldiveri will be able to further his case for the starting job, will be out in California when the team kicks off camp on the campus of UC Irvine on July 24.