A position-by-position look at the New Orleans Saints' 90-man roster heading into the start of training camp. Players report on Thursday and will hold their first practice Friday at The Greenbrier resort in West Virginia.
Current depth chart:
Cornerback: Keenan Lewis, Champ Bailey, Corey White, Patrick Robinson, Stanley Jean-Baptiste, Rod Sweeting, Trevin Wade, Terrence Frederick, Derrius Brooks, Brian Dixon
Safety: Jairus Byrd, Kenny Vaccaro, Rafael Bush, Vinnie Sunseri, Marcus Ball, Pierre Warren, Ty Zimmerman
Gone from last year: CB Jabari Greer, S Malcolm Jenkins, S Roman Harper, S Jordan Pugh
Key roster battles: The cornerback position will be the most fascinating to watch in training camp because it’s so vital that the Saints find reliable No. 2 and No. 3 guys -- and because there are so many intriguing options to fill those spots.
Does Bailey have something left in the tank? Can Robinson bounce back from his 2013 injury and 2012 struggles? Can White take the next step forward? Can Jean-Baptiste contribute immediately? None of them is a sure thing as the No. 2 starter. But with so many options, it’s likely that one or two will rise to the occasion.
The top three safeties are set in stone. But the battles for the back-end roster spots throughout the secondary will be intense. The Saints invested a fifth-round draft pick on Sunseri this year. Sweeting showed potential as an undrafted rookie last year. Wade and Frederick were signed to the Saints’ active roster late last season. Brooks and Ball were added this offseason after standout performances in the Canadian Football League. Warren, Zimmerman and Dixon seem like long shots as undrafted rookies, but Warren did earn a lot of playing time with the second string while Byrd was out with a back injury during organized team activities and minicamp.
Obviously special teams will be a huge deciding factor for all of those guys.
