Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) fakes the hands off to running back Travis Etienne Jr. (1) during the fourth quarter of an NFL football AFC Wild Card playoff matchup, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Jacksonville, Fla. The Bills defeated the Jaguars 27-24. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

3 Last-Second Saints Predictions as Free Agency Opens

Originally posted on New Orleans Saints on SI
By Patrick McAvoy | Last updated Mar 9, 2026 12:21 PM ET

The National Football League legal tampering period has begun.

Free agency opened up around the league on Monday afternoon at 11 a.m. CDT (12 p.m. ET) and teams and players are free to talk shop. Deals cannot be officially signed until the new league year begins on March 11, but negotiations are allowed and big moves have already been reported around the league. For example, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that the Indianapolis Colts are retaining star receiver Alec Pierce on a four-year, $116 million deal.

There will be plenty more moves throughout the week and the New Orleans Saints are a team that should be able to do well. The Saints are set at quarterback with Tyler Shough, and his performance from the second-half the season really brought some buzz to the franchise.

With free agency now open, let's dive into three last-second predictions for free agency:

The Saints have work to do

Saints keep only one of Cameron Jordan/Demario Davis
Now that free agency is open, that means that Jordan and Davis are both out there for the taking. It's unclear at this time what their markets will look like, but they both should do well after good 2025 seasons. If the Saints wanted to keep everyone, it would've been easier to do so before the market opened. Now, there's more competition. Because of that, one will stay, one will go.

Saints land a No. 2 receiver
Pierce is off the market, but there are other pieces who can help this team out. Guys like Deebo Samuel, Mike Evan (although so unlikely), Rashid Shaheed, Romeo Doubs or Keenan Allen would fit this description. With Pierce gone, the market is taking shape. The Saints need one more receiver, one of these guys should be the answer.

Saints sign Alvin Kamara's successor
There has been a lot of noise about the running back room and Travis Etienne Jr. is someone who has popped up as a speculative fit. If the Saints are going to add a guy, it would be better to do so on the sooner side. Etienne should be the guy.

This article first appeared on New Orleans Saints on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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