The New Orleans Saints defense finally crept out of the NFL basement last season. Players like Marshon Lattimore, Marcus Williams, Alex Okafor, Manti Te'o, Tyeler Davison, David Onyemata, Ken Crawley, and Sheldon Rankins stepped in and helped out star defensive lineman Cameron Jordan, which aided their rise from 27th in yards allowed, 31st in points allowed, and 31st in Football Outsiders' defensive DVOA to 17th, 10th, and eighth in those statistics, respectively.
The good thing about all those players coming in and making an impact is that it helped the Saints get to the playoffs. The "bad" thing is that those important players need to stick around long-term, which means the Saints have to conserve cap dollars in order to pay them appropriately down the line.
To that end, they made a move on Saturday that all but ensures one of their more versatile contributors will be headed out the door this offseason. The Saints signed former Panthers safety Kurt Coleman to a three-year deal, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.
The signing of Coleman to play at one of their safety spots likely means former first-round pick Kenny Vaccaro is leaving for greener pastures this offseason. Vaccaro has had an up-and-down career for the Saints, but last season showcased his versatility by playing multiple roles: high safety and slot cornerback.
Vaccaro, who recently turned 27 years old, is likely to have several suitors this offseason as teams put more and more defensive backs on the field at a time. He has long been rumored to be a target of the Dallas Cowboys, for example, who will need some safety help if they make the rumored move of Byron Jones from safety to cornerback under new defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator Kris Richard, who is the former defensive coordinator of the Seahawks and favors tall, long cornerbacks. He's also been a rumored target for the Steelers this offseason.
Vaccaro is not the top safety on the market (that would be LaMarcus Joyner), but he likely falls in the second or third tier of players available at that position; with some of those options likely to draw much larger salaries, he could be of interest to teams looking for a slightly lower-cost option on the back end of their defense.