2021 New Orleans Saints season

The 2021 season will be the New Orleans Saints' upcoming 55th season in the National Football League, the 46th to host games at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and the fifteenth under head coach Sean Payton.

2021 New Orleans Saints season
Owner	Gayle Benson
Head coach	Sean Payton
General manager	Mickey Loomis
Home field	Mercedes-Benz Superdome
Uniform

Roster changes

Unrestricted

Position	Player	2021 team	Date signed	Contract
MLB	Alex Anzalone
CB	Johnson Bademosi
FB	Michael Burton
TE	Jared Cook
CB	Ken Crawley
WR	Bennie Fowler
CB	Justin Hardee
DE	Trey Hendrickson
T	James Hurst
RB	Ty Montgomery
DT	Sheldon Rankins
MLB	Craig Robertson
DE	Noah Spence
FS	D. J. Swearinger
RB	Dwayne Washington
FS	Marcus Williams
FS	P. J. Williams
QB	Jameis Winston

Restricted

Position	Player	2021 team	Date signed	Contract
C	Will Clapp
SS	J. T. Gray

Futures

Position	Player	Date signed
LB	Andrew Dowell	January 19, 2021
DT	Ryan Glasgow	January 19, 2021
TE	Garrett Griffin	January 19, 2021
CB	Grant Haley	January 19, 2021
OLB	Chase Hansen	January 19, 2021
WR	Lil'Jordan Humphrey	January 19, 2021
RB	Tony Jones Jr.	January 19, 2021
WR	Jake Lampman	January 19, 2021
DT	Christian Ringo	January 19, 2021
QB	Trevor Siemian	January 19, 2021
T	Calvin Throckmorton	January 19, 2021
DE	Marcus Willoughby	January 19, 2021
TE	Ethan Wolf	January 19, 2021
LB	Wynton McManis	January 20, 2021
CB	Keith Washington Jr.	January 22, 2021

Draft

2021 New Orleans Saints Draft

Round	Selection	Player	Position	College
1	28
2	60
3	TBD
4	TBD

Notes

• Exact numbers of the selections from rounds 3–7 will be determined when compensatory selections are awarded at the NFL's annual spring owners' meetings.
• The Saints traded their third-round selection, along with a 2020 third-round selection, to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for the Browns' 2020 third- and seventh-round selections.[1]
• The Saints traded a conditional fifth-round selection and linebacker Kiko Alonso to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for linebacker Kwon Alexander.[2]
• The Saints received third-round selections in 2021 and 2022 as compensation when its director of pro scouting Terry Fontenot was hired by the Atlanta Falcons as general manager.[3]
• The Saints traded their sixth-round selection to the Houston Texans for the Texan's 2020 seventh-round selection.[4][5]
• The Saints forfeited their seventh-round selection as the punishment for repeated COVID-19 protocol violations during the 2020 season.[6]

Staff

New Orleans Saints staff

	Front office Owner – Gayle Benson President – Dennis Lauscha Executive Vice President/General Manager – Mickey Loomis Senior Vice President/Chief Operating Officer – Ben Hales Asst. General Manager/College Scouting Director – Jeff Ireland Vice President of Football Administration – Khai Harley Director of Operations – James Nagaoka Director of Pro Scouting – Vacant Head Coaches Head Coach – Sean Payton Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Line - Ryan Nielsen Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator – Pete Carmichael Quarterbacks – Vacant Running Backs – Joel Thomas Wide Receivers – Ronald Curry Tight Ends - Vacant Offensive Line – Dan Roushar Assistant Offensive Line – Brendan Nugent Senior Offensive Assistant – Curtis Johnson Offensive Assistant – Declan Doyle Assistant to the Head Coach/Offensive Assistant – Kevin Petry Offensive Assistant – DJ Williams			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator – Dennis Allen Linebackers – Michael Hodges Defensive backs – Kris Richard Senior Defensive Assistant – Peter Giunta Defensive Assistant – Cory Robinson Defensive Assistant – Michael Wilhoite Pass Rush Specialist – Brian Young Special Teams Coaches Special Teams Coordinator – Darren Rizzi Assistant Special Teams – Phil Galiano Strength and Conditioning Head Strength and Conditioning – Dan Dalrymple Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Charles Byrd Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Rob Wenning → Coaching staff → Management → More NFL staffs
AFC East BUF MIA NE NYJ North BAL CIN CLE PIT South HOU IND JAX TEN West DEN KC LV LAC NFC East DAL NYG PHI WAS North CHI DET GB MIN South ATL CAR NO TB West ARI LAR SF SEA

Current roster

New Orleans Saints roster

Quarterbacks  9 Drew Brees  7 Taysom Hill Running backs 41 Alvin Kamara 28 Latavius Murray Wide receivers 12 Marquez Callaway 11 Deonte Harris RS 83 Juwan Johnson 17 Emmanuel Sanders 10 Tre'Quan Smith 13 Michael Thomas Tight ends 89 Josh Hill 82 Adam Trautman 86 Jason Vander Laan 85 Cole Wick

Offensive linemen 72 Terron Armstead T 62 Nick Easton G 73 Ethan Greenidge T 68 Derrick Kelly II G 78 Erik McCoy C 75 Andrus Peat G 71 Ryan Ramczyk T 51 Cesar Ruiz G Defensive linemen 90 Malcom Brown DT 77 Jalen Dalton DT 92 Marcus Davenport DE 96 Carl Granderson DE 94 Cameron Jordan DE 93 David Onyemata DT 97 Malcolm Roach DT 99 Shy Tuttle DT

Linebackers 58 Kwon Alexander MLB 53 Zack Baun OLB 56 Demario Davis OLB 55 Kaden Elliss OLB Defensive backs 22 C. J. Gardner-Johnson SS 20 Janoris Jenkins CB 27 Malcolm Jenkins SS 23 Marshon Lattimore CB 21 Patrick Robinson CB Special teams  4 Blake Gillikin P  3 Wil Lutz K  6 Thomas Morstead P 49 Zach Wood LS

Reserve lists 50 Andrew Dowell LB (Futures) 95 Ryan Glasgow DT (Futures) 45 Garrett Griffin TE (Futures) 30 Grant Haley CB (Futures) 42 Chase Hansen OLB (Futures) 84 Lil'Jordan Humphrey WR (Futures) 37 Tony Jones Jr. RB (Futures) 19 Jake Lampman WR (Futures) -- Wynton McManis LB (Futures) 70 Christian Ringo DT (Futures) 15 Trevor Siemian QB (Futures) 66 Calvin Throckmorton T (Futures) 38 Keith Washington Jr. CB (Futures) 59 Marcus Willoughby DE (Futures) 86 Ethan Wolf TE (Futures) Unrestricted FAs 47 Alex Anzalone MLB 29 Johnson Bademosi CB 32 Michael Burton FB 87 Jared Cook TE 25 Ken Crawley CB 16 Bennie Fowler WR 34 Justin Hardee CB 91 Trey Hendrickson DE 74 James Hurst T 88 Ty Montgomery RB 98 Sheldon Rankins DT 52 Craig Robertson MLB 57 Noah Spence DE 36 D. J. Swearinger FS 24 Dwayne Washington RB 43 Marcus Williams FS 26 P. J. Williams FS  2 Jameis Winston QB Restricted FAs 64 Will Clapp C 48 J. T. Gray SS Rookies in italics Roster updated January 22, 2021 Depth chart Transactions 43 active, 15 inactive, 20 free agent(s) → AFC rosters → NFC rosters

Preseason

The Saints' preseason opponents and schedule will be announced in the spring.

Regular season

2021 opponents

Listed below are the Saints' opponents for 2021. The length of the season is contingent on whether the league expands the regular season from 16 to 17 games. If this happens, a 17th game would match the Saints against a interconference opponent from one of the three divisions from the AFC that the Saints are not scheduled to play in 2021, which will be based on division placement from 2020.[7]

Exact dates and times will be announced in the spring.

Category	Home	Away
Division opponents (NFC South)	Atlanta Falcons Carolina Panthers Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Conference opponents (NFC East)	Dallas Cowboys New York Giants	Philadelphia Eagles Washington Football Team
Conference opponents (based on 2020 division placement)	Green Bay Packers	Seattle Seahawks
Interconference opponents (AFC East)	Buffalo Bills Miami Dolphins	New England Patriots New York Jets

References

1. Shook, Nick (April 24, 2020). "Saints trade up, select LB Zack Baun with 74th pick". NFL.com. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
2. "Saints get 49ers LB Alexander for Alonso, pick". ESPN.com. November 2, 2020. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
3. Edwards, Josh (January 19, 2021). "Falcons hire Terry Fontenot as general manager, Saints to receive draft compensation". CBS Sports. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
4. Just, Amie (2020-04-25). "Saints trade back into 7th round, draft Mississippi State QB Tommy Stevens". NOLA.com. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
5. Wilson, Aaron (2020-04-25). "Texans trade seventh-round pick to Saints for 2021 sixth-rounder". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
6. Bergman, Jeremy (November 29, 2020). "Saints fined $500K, docked draft pick, Patriots fined $350K for COVID-19 protocol violations". NFL. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
7. Florio, Mike (February 16, 2020). "17th game will give each team a fifth interconference matchup". Profootballtalk.com. Retrieved February 16, 2020.

External links

• Official website