Before the 2025 NFL Season, the New Orleans Saints made a small move that, at the time, was not really noteworthy. The Jacksonville Jaguars traded for Saints DT Khalen Saunders and, in return, sent New Orleans C Luke Fortner. Both players were cut candidates for their respective teams, but before those players could hit the market, a deal was made.
Today, Saunders was released by the Jaguars, but regarding Fortner? He is a needed piece for the Saints.
Why the Saints Made the Trade
As mentioned, both of these players were going to hit the open market. For the Saints, Saunders never lived up to the high expectations the team and fans had for him after he won two Super Bowls with the Kansas City Chiefs. There was a bit of hype after the signing, even if it was minimal, but his fit on this team no longer made sense.
One of the main reasons the Saints wanted Fortner was due to their need for offensive line depth. He never worked out on the Jags, but as a depth piece, New Orleans was hoping for a player to come in if needed. At that time, C Will Clapp was believed to be the backup center if Erik McCoy ever went down with an injury, but shortly after the trade, Clapp was ruled out for the rest of the season due to an injury.
Fortner then became the backup C, and in week 7, McCoy was ruled out for the rest of the season.
How Fortner Is Performing for New Orleans
Since coming in for McCoy, Fortner has been good. It isn’t always perfect, as seen in the NFC South matchup with the Carolina Panthers when a bad penalty was called against him, but he has been solid overall. Per PFSN’s Player OL Impact Metric, Fortner had an 81.2 impact score in week 10. This grade put him at 5th among all centers for that week.
Something that makes this performance even better is the fact that New Orleans faced a good interior defensive line that could really disrupt games.
Clearly, the Saints were able to win this trade for Fortner.