The New Orleans Saints understood Luke Fortner likely was going to leave in free agency.
They didn’t necessarily anticipate him staying in the NFC South, however.
“To go to Carolina in the division, I was a little bummed on that part,” Saints coach Kellen Moore said. “But he’s going to do a really good job. He obviously played a really valuable role for us.”
It’s a role that the Saints still have to replace. After Fortner signed a one-year, $2.75 million deal to join the Panthers this offseason, New Orleans has a hole at backup center — a position that has become very important to the black and gold over the last two years.
Fortner, who the Saints acquired last year in a preseason trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars, ended up starting 10 games in place of an injured Erik McCoy. McCoy is healthy now, but has missed 14 games since 2024. The Saints know they need a contingency plan.
So, what are they going to do?
“We do have some guys who play the guard position that have played for us the last year, year-and-a-half that could probably transition into center,” Moore said. “We’ll give those guys opportunities through the offseason. And we’ll see where it takes us.”
There’s also the possibility, of course, that the Saints add through the draft or dip back into free agency. But if they don’t, guards Torricelli Simpkins and Cesar Ruiz are among the players who have experience playing center if McCoy goes down.