Saints jettison first-round bust Trevor Penning to Chargers, acquiring future picks. Team pivots to rebuild, facing a grim 1-8 reality.
The New Orleans Saints weren’t done yet after dealing away Rashid Shaheed to the Seattle Seahawks and finally have seemed to come to terms with the lack of future draft capital and current state of affairs.
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Saints made a last-minute move and are trading offensive lineman Trevor Penning to the Los Angeles Chargers. The move makes plenty of sense for Los Angeles after losing Joe Alt to a season-ending injury.
Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.football confirmed that the trade will be for a future pick. However, that doesn’t really offset a sting of the fact that it was a failed development ultimately of a first-round pick, and ultimately a waste of previous capital. After declining to pick up Penning's fifth round option in April, he was set to become a free agent after this year.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network later added that the Saints will get a sixth rounder in 2027 for Penning, which does about nothing in the immediate term, and is a poor haul for a former first rounder.
The Chargers are more than happy to get a one-year rental, as Penning is in the final year of his four-year, $14 million rookie contract, and have lost both of their top offensive tackles for the season. Does that project a move for Penning to the outside?
Either way, Penning is heading to go protect a star quarterback in Justin Herbert and not stick around to see out the end of the Tyler Shough experiment in New Orleans for the remainder of this season.
Penning was the Saints’ No. 19 overall pick in the 2022 draft and has had several injuries since coming to New Orleans. He’s made six starts and appeared in six games for the team this season.
And New Orleans, for what it’s worth, seems to be finally facing the reality of a 1-8 season with little draft capital for the future under a first-year head coach. After gaining a fourth and fifth rounder back in the trade of Shaheed to the Seahawks, this subsequent one should poise head coach Kellen Moore to make a splash with his second draft class.
The team will have to turn back to Toricelli Simpkins and eventually Dillon Radunz. It makes things, in the short term, harder for Shough under center, as he’s now down a left guard and top pass catching option.
However, the Saints just must turn the page on 2024 and look to rebuild this roster. The team also added tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. with this year’s first round pick. Hopefully that one sees more success on the team than Penning did in his tenure in New Orleans.