State of the Saints: Defensive Tackle

The Saints have many things to look coming off a lackluster season, and we start to take a look at the state of things going into 2023.

The offseason is certainly a time for reflection and plenty of questions. New Orleans is going to have plenty of things to assess after another year of not making the postseason and turning in one of their most disappointing campaigns in quite some time. 

We're going to start a series today that focuses on the state of the team going into 2023 for each position. We begin on the defensive side and go in the trenches with the big men.

Defensive Tackle Overview

Jan 1, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive end Malcolm Roach (97) and New Orleans Saints defensive tackle David Onyemata (93) celebrate a stop on fourth down during the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Players Under Contract: Prince Emili (reserve/future)

Free Agent Outlook: David Onyemata, Kentavius Street, Shy Tuttle, Malcolm Roach (RFA), Albert Huggins (RFA)

Other Notes: The Saints lost last year's sixth-round pick to the Broncos on Tuesday, as Jordan Jackson opted to start fresh and sign a reserve/future deal with them.

Priority Level: Critical

Dennis Allen's defense was gashed on the ground frequently during the season, as New Orleans averaged giving up 130.5 yards/game. That was one of the league's bottom-tier run defenses at 9th-worst. Of the 48 sacks by the team (T-5th), 11.5 came from the defensive interior with David Onyemata leading the way with 5.0 sacks. 

New Orleans did some tweaking to the contract of Onyemata, as well as Marcus Davenport, pushing their void date deals from Feb. 17 to Mar. 14. So, simply put, this means that the window to bring them back without worrying about dead money for 2023 is longer. However, Onyemata's dead money charge would come to the tune of $10.1 million. Neither can get a franchise tag.

Needless to say, the Saints have got to address this position. It's one of their most important to fix in the offseason, something we touched on at the end of November. At the right price, Onyemata is someone to bring back, as well as Kentavius Street. Street set a career-high in sacks with 3.5 and has paired well under tutelage from his former coach in Ryan Nielsen. 

At the right prices, Tuttle, Huggins, and Roach could all return. However, that's something to keep an eye on. Using a ROFR (Right of First Refusal) tender for RFAs Huggins and Roach seems unlikely at the projected $2.629 million tag. So, all could test the free agency market to see what type of offers they may get, and that's something New Orleans would be rolling the dice on.

Overall, the Saints have to figure this position out. They're very talented at linebacker and in the secondary. Without free agency playing out, it wouldn't be surprising to see them draft a defensive tackle at any point in the draft. That may change, but there's just a lot of moving pieces here on the defensive line. Hopefully, inject some new blood in the interior and put out a better showing in 2023.

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