New Orleans Saints address major roster need right before cut down deadline with trade involving Dallas Cowboys
Made sense on both sides.
Trades at this point of the offseason often involve depth along rosters. For the New Orleans Saints, they noticed a glaring hole on their offense and had to address it due to recent injury news. The Dallas Cowboys obliged, and the two struck a deal on Tuesday afternoon.
Saints add offensive line depth with trade
According to Adam Schefter, the Saints have traded a 2028 6th-round pick in exchange for Cowboys offensive tackle Asim Richards and a 2028 7th-round pick. New Orleans adds an important depth piece in the trenches, while Dallas receives compensation for a player on the roster bubble.
Richards has played at tackle and guard since he joined the Dallas Cowboys in 2023 but his best play has come on the outside. In limited playing time as the Cowboys’ backup left tackle in 2024, what stood out the most from his play was his pass protection. Going into the 2025 regular season, Richards’ stock dropped with a new coaching staff in town, as second-year lineman Nate Thomas won the backup LT job. This was probably enough to motivate the Cowboys to get something in return for him, specially because he was a cut candidate. Though I’m seriously surprised the picks are for 2028, I know the Cowboys love their draft picks. The compensation confirms they would’ve waived him had the Saints not agreed to a trade, though.
If Richards can clean up the penalty issues he had in the preseason, he can develop into a solid swing tackle with some guard versatility. — Mauricio Rodriguez, A to Z Sports
Being the team’s swing tackle would be ideal for the Saints. They just lost OT Landon Young for the season due to injury. He was their top option at swing tackle entering the preseason, and the interior of the OL also took a slugging with the loss of center Will Clapp, a projected top backup for the unit.
New Orleans lacked nearly any proven depth at tackle, and their starters are both young players. Taliese Fuaga was a great OL piece last season as a rookie, and Kelvin Banks Jr. has impressed in camp and dominated when given a chance in the preseason. They had to add some sort of backup with experience, though. Enter: Richards.
According to Pro Football Focus, Richards has played more than 90% of his 220 NFL offensive snaps at left tackle. He has allowed just one sack on 423 combined snaps in pass protection.
Adding Richards won’t break any news cycles, especially on a day with a ton of moves. That being said, Richards’ strong pass protection attributes made plenty of sense for an addition to Kellen Moore unit. In a season where either Spencer Rattler or Tyler Shough will be the starting quarterback, it is paramount that the Saints keep those guys upright.
New Orleans Saints News
Saints star teases the return of Michael Thomas to New Orleans with cryptic social media post
People are wondering now.
