The New Orleans Saints will have a need at safety this offseason, with veteran Marcus Maye expected to be released at the start of the league year.
The news was first reported by Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report.
The move isn't particularly surprising, with the vision for Maye not exactly being realized over a pair of seasons littered with absences. Maye was brought to New Orleans prior to the 2022 season to form a rebuilt safety tandem with Tyrann Mathieu, stemming from the departure of Marcus Williams in free agency and the retirement of Malcolm Jenkins.
The 30-year-old appeared in 17 games over two seasons, logging 97 tackles, four passes defensed, 2 interceptions and a forced fumble. Maye dealt with a three-game suspension in Year 2 and was absent for the final six games of the 2023 season due to injury. Those absences allowed for an expanded role going to Jordan Howden, who showed well in his rookie season out of Minnesota and should be a key piece for the Saints going forward. The team also got significant contributions out of veterans Lonnie Johnson Jr. and Johnathan Abram. Both players are free agents, but could be brought back on team-friendly deals.
The move could also inform some of their decision-making when the draft arrives in April. The Saints pick at No. 14 and 45, but don't have a third round selection. Still, they could choose to be aggressive to move up and get a safety, or devote middle-round draft assets to the position, like they did in the 4th round of the 2019 draft with C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
The last question remaining with Maye will be whether the Saints want to maximize the 2024 cap savings by designation Maye a post-June 1 cut. Should the Saints cut Maye immediately the team would clear $1.19 million immediately, taking another chip out of the cap overages they've been steadily walking down as the cap compliance deadline looms. If they use one of their two post-June 1 designations, the cap savings for 2024 would be $7.2 million, though that wouldn't hit until later in the offseason and would be used to sign rookies and other free agents later in the year. The downside to handling the move that way would be the cap hit spreading out, with $6 million in dead money pushed to 2025.
