Ex-New Orleans Saints Will Make a Big Impact in NFL Playoffs

Ex-New Orleans Saints Will Make a Big Impact in NFL Playoffs

With the first of three days of the “Super” Wild-Card weekend this afternoon, the NFL playoffs officially get

underway (insert eye roll here). On Saturday, the Miami Dolphins will visit the Kansas City Chiefs,

the reigning Super Bowl champions, while the Houston Texans will host the Cleveland Browns.

The Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers vs. Dallas Cowboys,

and Los Angeles Rams vs. Detroit Lions are the matchups scheduled for Sunday.

The Philadelphia Eagles, the reigning NFC champion,

host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday to wrap up the first round.

The top-seeded teams in their respective conferences,

the San Francisco 49ers (NFC) and Baltimore Ravens (AFC),

advance to the divisional round with byes.

After ending with a 9-8 record, the New Orleans Saints will be

watching the playoffs from home for the third consecutive year.

Some former Saints who are competing for other teams in the playoffs may be

the team that New Orleans supporters would prefer to support this postseason.

The previous players of New Orleans and the teams they currently play for in the postseason are listed below.

AFC
Baltimore Ravens (#1 Seed)

• Marcus Williams, S

Williams has been a playmaker with great range for Baltimore,

just like he was during his five years with New Orleans. Between 2017 and 2021,

Williams has 15 interceptions for the Saints; in 2022, he had four picks with the Ravens.

Despite just having one interception this season, he plays a vital role in Baltimore’s excellent secondary.

Buffalo Bills (#2 seed)

• Latavius Murray, RB
• Deonte Harty, WR/KR

In eleven years, Murray has played for six different teams. In 2019 and 2020,

he was a great addition to the Saints as an Alvin Kamara complement for Mark Ingram.

Murray, who plays a similar role for the Bills, has excelled in the between-the-tackling option,

gaining 27 first downs and four touchdowns on just 79 attempts.

Deonte Harris, a kick returner with the Saints who was undrafted as a rookie in 2019,

was named to the First Team All-Pro. He would provide four years as

a supplementary receiver for New Orleans and continue to be a difference maker in that role.

In his first season for Buffalo, he’s been an excellent punt returner and gives explosive depth to the wideout corps.

Kansas City Chiefs (#3 Seed)
• Nonee

Houston Texans (#4 Seed)
• Sheldon Rankins, DT

Rankins, one of the best interior linemen in New Orleans team history,

was selected by the Saints in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft.

He’s been a reliable inside presence for the Jets since departing the Saints in 2021,

and he’s currently in his first season with Houston.

For the Texans this season, Rankins has tallied six sacks and nine tackles for loss.

These represent his career’s second-highest totals, topped only by his exceptional 2018 Saints season.

Cleveland Browns (#5 Seed)

• None

Miami Dolphins (#6 Seed)

• Terron Armstead, OT
• Eli Apple, CB

As Sean Payton once stated, he cheers for Eli Apple ”a little bit” to succeed.

He is able to. I refuse to. Apple is however still a part of postseason teams, despite being a liability or weak link.

Terron Armstead has never been someone’s weak link as long as he’s on the pitch.

Armstead, who is still among the NFL’s greatest tackles,

is a threat to stop pass rushers and create openings for the running game.

His propensity for injuries is his only flaw, as it always has been. Similar to his nine years with the Saints,

Armstead has had difficulty holding down a starting position.

Pittsburgh Steelers (#7 Seed)
• Adams Montravius, DT
Kwon Alexander, LB (reserved for injury)

Adams was a reliable member of the Saints interior rotation for

the early part of 2021 after spending his first four years with Green Bay.

Pittsburgh stole him from the New Orleans practice squad in the middle of that season.

He has since excelled as a run defender for the formidable Steelers defence.

NFC
San Francisco 49ers (#1 Seed)

• None
Dallas Cowboys (#2 Seed)

• None
Detroit Lions (#3 Seed)

• Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Alex Anzalone, LB, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, S

Following a devastating knee injury sustained with the Vikings in 2016,

Bridgewater made an amazing recovery and went on to

play a crucial backup position to Drew Brees in 2018 and 2019. When Brees was injured in 2019,

Bridgewater started for the Saints and went 5-0, leading the team to the NFC South championship.

Bridgewater, who is currently Jared Goff’s backup,

declared early in the season that he will retire at the end of the current campaign.

In their incredible 2017 draft, New Orleans selected Anzalone in the third round.

During his four years with the Saints, he struggled with injuries, but when he did play,

he made a significant contribution to an excellent defence.

Anzalone has spent the last three years in Detroit,

where he has overcome his history of injuries to become a versatile playmaker and

a leader for a youthful Lions defence.

For the Saints in 2018, Gardner-Johnson was a steal in the fourth round of the draft.

After a contentious trade with the Eagles last season,

he has been one of the NFL’s most versatile defensive backs in New Orleans for the past three seasons.

Gardner-Johnson, who has been on injured reserve for the majority of the season,

made his comeback last week with the intention of leading the young Lions to the postseason.

Dan Campbell, the head coach of Detroit, was a tight end

for New Orleans in 2009 before joining the Saints staff as an assistant coach in 2016.

Aaron Glenn, a 2008 Saints cornerback who coached New Orleans’

defensive backs from 2016 to 2020, is the defensive coordinator for the Lions.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (#4 Seed)
• None
Philadelphia Eagles (#5 Seed)

• Boston Scott, RB, Bradley Roby, CB, Justin Evans, S (injured reserve)

In the dreadful 2018 draft, the Saints selected Scott in the sixth round,

but the Eagles plucked him off their practice squad in his rookie season.

He has since given Philadelphia excellent depth at the backfield.

Roby, who was a first-round selection of the Denver Broncos in 2014,

spent five excellent seasons in Denver and two more in Houston before being traded to

the New Orleans Saints in 2021.

He spent two fantastic seasons as a vital member of

the Saints secondary before Philadelphia signed him in the middle of the season this year.

Los Angeles Rams (#6 Seed)

• Brett Maher, K

Maher wants to help the Rams, who are generally playing well,

with their kicking problems. In 2021,

he was put in a similar position while filling in for an injured Wil Lutz for New Orleans late in the season.

Maher was the Saints’ fourth kicker of that season.

Despite being the most successful of the four, he didn’t stand out from the crowd.

Green Bay Packers (#7 Seed)

• None

Bradley Roby is the only one of the 13 former New Orleans players

who will be available for postseason action to have won a Super Bowl.

That occurred during his second campaign with the Denver Broncos in 2015 as the team’s third cornerback.

Eli Apple (Bengals), Boston Scott (Eagles),

and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson (Eagles) were part of conference champions that lost in the Super Bowl.

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