Report: New Orleans Saints finalizing trade for Bradley Roby

The New Orleans Saints are finalizing a trade with the Houston Texans for cornerback Bradley Roby, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. The details of the deal have not been released yet, but the acquisition of Roby helps fill a void left after the unexpected retirement of Patrick Robinson during this preseason.

Roby’s career

Roby was the 31pick in the first-round by the Denver Broncos back in 2014. He spent his first five years with the Broncos as the nickel and third corner on the roster. After his rookie contract expired, Roby signed a one-year deal with the Houston Texans in 2019. And followed that up with a three-year deal worth 36 million the following year. The Ohio State product currently has ten interceptions, eight forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries, and a combined 311 total tackles in his career.

While the Saints will be excited to bring in Roby, they will have to wait for one game until he is eligible to play. He is currently serving a six-game suspension for violating the league’s performance-enhancing substances policy. After serving out five games last season, he has one final game to sit to complete his suspension.

The Saints corner situation

The Saints were in dire need to find help at corner for this season. They enter this offseason well over the cap and were forced to part ways with starting corner Janoris Jenkins. To make matters worse Robinson elected to retire in the middle of the Saints training camp. They did attempt to move up in the draft to select either Jaycee Horn or Patrick Surtain II. But with both of them being top of the draft players New Orleans was unable to hash out a deal they liked.

Roby will be joining two other fellow Buckeyes in the Saints secondary, corner Marshon Lattimore and safety Malcolm Jenkins. Both will be starting for New Orleans this season as they did the seasons prior. He will also join recently acquired Desmond Trufant and Ken Crawley, who are also vying for the other starting corner position. C.J. Gardner-Johnson is listed as a safety but also does a lot of the team’s lifting at the nickel corner spot. But depending on what teams throw at the Saints, you could see Roby lined up there as well throughout the season.

With all the moves the Saints have made at cornerback recently, it looks like their voes might be behind them now. Coming into the season Pro Football Focus has the New Orleans defense as a high-level tier 2 defense; largely because of the question marks at corner. But if Bradley Roby can come in and maintain his level of performance, the Saints could be one of the best defensive teams this season.

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