Saints’ signing of Jason Pierre-Paul sheds light on defensive struggles
Veteran defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul signed a deal to join the New Orleans Saints practice squad Monday night. The 34-year-old hasn’t played this season and most recently played 14 games with the Baltimore Ravens in 2022. He has 94 sacks in his career, but 5.5 in the last two seasons combined.
The Saints also signed defensive end Jordan Willis last week. Willis played in nine games with the San Francisco 49ers last season. The 28-year-old doesn’t have three Pro Bowls and an All-Pro like Pierre-Paul; he’s best known for his blocked punt against the Green Bay Packers in the 2021 divisional round.
Second-round pick Isaiah Foskey is injured, which played a role in signing more defensive ends, but the bigger issue is twofold: New Orleans struggles getting sacks and pressures — and can’t stop quarterbacks from scrambling.
The Saints are currently 26th in the NFL in sacks and 24th in pressure rate. Carl Granderson leads the team in sacks with 5.5; Cameron Jordan has the next most of any defensive lineman with two.
Vikings quarterback Josh Dobbs ran for 44 yards and a touchdown in the Saints’ 27-19 loss in Week 10. Tyson Bagent, Trevor Lawrence and Jordan Love also all had career-highs in rushing yards against New Orleans this season.
“I would say overall run defense on traditional runs has been pretty solid,” Saints coach Dennis Allen said Monday. “Our run defense, when you incorporate the quarterback’s feet, has not been what we need it to be. We got to continue looking at ways that we can keep quarterbacks from being able to run the ball on us.”
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