A positional need and a player with links to the coaching staff. Could make sense.
The New Orleans Saints have work to be done throughout their roster, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Fun additions such as the playmakers are needed, but if the Saints want to fix the run game, for example, the offensive line needs to be fixed first.
Tackles are set with Taliese Fuaga and Kelvin Banks Jr. holding those spots down, and the center should be fine if Erik McCoy can stay healthy, but the guard spots are where the issues arise. LG has no starter in place, so that's an obvious place to begin, but RG is also an issue. The Saints could realistically invest two of their free agent signings into the guard positions.
LG can be the big time signing, such as players like David Edwards from the Buffalo Bills, but if New Orleans also wants to sign an RG, it needs to be someone a bit cheaper who can compete with Ruiz. It is unlikely that the Saints will move on from their current starting RG, but that will change if someone beats him out in camp or if Ruiz becomes tradeable later in the season. So, who can be that player?
Well, recently, it was revealed that the Los Angeles Chargers are set to release Mekhi Becton. This is not a shocking move with the money the team saved, and Becton was not good in 2025. His value is at an all-time low, but guess what? It was also that low before the Philadelphia Eagles signed him, when they were on their way to winning the Super Bowl.
If you remember, on that Eagles staff, Kellen Moore was OC, Doug Nussmeier was QB coach, and T.J. Paganetti was the run game specialist/assistant offensive line coach. Although Nussmeier may not have been involved, the other two were directly involved in Becton's development, helping him become a quality starting guard on a dominant offense.
Back to last offseason, the Saints could have signed Becton, but they did not. Now, that could happen again, and it would show that the reason the Saints did not sign him last season was that they were not interested in the player. But it could have been because of the price. Now, Becton's price would be low, he would be at least depth behind Ruiz, can fight for the starting job, and the Saints can still draft a young developmental guard on day 3.
This would be a very low-risk signing.