Saints comfort level with depth, youth, talent leads to release of Warford

It came as no surprise Friday when the New Orleans Saints released veteran guard Larry Warford.

Warford started all 15 games he played in last season and started all 44 games over three years with the Saints after signing with New Orleans in 2017, playing on three straight playoff teams.

Clearly, the Saints could not find a trade partner or trade value for Warford.

It was not about any failure by Warford to do a solid job here. He was named to the Pro Bowl in all three of his seasons in New Orleans.

Pro Football Focus ranked Warford with an overall grade of 73.1 from Pro Football Focus last season. He played 970 snaps, allowing two sacks and was penalized six times.

Despite grades, the Saints clearly were not satisfied with their interior line play last season.

The move is all about the additions of Cesar Ruiz this season and Erik McCoy in 2018, along with the investment made in Andrus Peat and the overall budget. The cap hit attached to Warford is estimated at $5,125,000 by Spotrac.com. Releasing Warford should save the Saints approximately $8 million when applied to the salary cap.

Once the Saints opted to keep Peat and extend him on a long-term basis, the dye was cast. Peat recently signed a five-year contract worth $57.5 million with $33 million guaranteed.

Peat has proven to be versatile, playing every position on the offensive line except center in his five seasons with the Saints. He is best at left guard but he has had to play left tackle quite frequently, due to the many injury issues of talented Terron Armstead.

In 2019, Armstead proved to be durable, missing just one game after missing 26 games in the previous five seasons.

Peat, as well, has had injury issues.

He has never played all 16 games in his five years in New Orleans.

Peat missed six games last season and missed three games in 2018 and played hurt in the playoffs. In 2018, Peat played 575 snaps, incurred three penalties and allowed three sacks. He received an overall grade of 49.5 from Pro Football Focus.

History repeated itself.

Following the 2011 season, the Saints had two elite guards, the best tandem in the NFL in Jahri Evans and Carl Nicks.

The Saints chose to invest long-term in Evans and simply could not afford Nicks, despite the fact that he was playing great. The Saints made the right move, as Evans went on to play six more seasons while Nicks, unfortunately, saw his career end quickly due to injury after he signed with Tampa Bay, where he played in just nine more games in his career.

The Saints chose to go with Peat, a first-round investment in 2015 and the younger player at 26. Warford will be 29 next month.

Of course, Peat and Warford clearly are not the measure of Evans and Nicks, who were the very best pair of guards in the NFL when they last played together in New Orleans.

Sean Payton and Dan Roushar obviously feel good about Peat, McCoy and Ruiz and feel good about depth at the guard spot.

Nick Easton played 409 snaps in 2019 and allowed just one sack and incurred only three penalties. Easton was called upon to start six games at guard, due to injuries. He played in 10 games overall. Easton has the experience you want, having played in 33 games with 23 starts in the league over three seasons. Easton had a grade of 49.3 from Pro Football Focus in 2019. Easton is the security blanket, the veteran reserve at 28 this season.

Former Brother Martin and LSU star Will Clapp played 306 snaps, allowed two sacks and had three penalties. Clapp was most frequently the third tight end eligible blocker on the edge, though he took snaps at guard as well. Clapp enters his third season having played in 17 games in the league, starting four. Clapp earned a 59.9 grade from Pro Football Focus last season. Clapp is just 24.

The thought, though not etched in stone, is that first-round pick Cesar Ruiz will play center while 2018 second round pick Erik McCoy, who started at center as a rookie, will move to the right guard spot vacated by Warford. Ruiz will now start, one way or the other, as a rookie at the age of 21.

McCoy played 1,058 snaps, all at center. McCoy allowed just one sack but did have eight penalties against him. McCoy achieved a solid grade of 76.2 overall from Pro Football Focus. McCoy will be 23 this season.

Former Catholic High star Cameron Tom of Southern Miss returns after missing the 2019 season. In 2018, Tom played in 11 games, starting one. He played 178 snaps and had one penalty. Tom will be 25 this season.

Easton, Clapp and Tom can all play guard or center, as is the case with Ruiz and McCoy.

With a starting lineup of Ruiz, McCoy, Peat, Armstead and Ryan Ramcyzk, the Saints are young and talented and appear set for at least the next three or four seasons with Armstead signed through 2023 and set to be 29 this season. Ramczyk is just 26, with only three seasons in the league. No starter has reached the age of 30.

The Saints clearly feel well stocked and feel comfortable with the ability, flexibility and youth of its interior offensive line so they chose to move on from Warford.