Latest news with #Penning
USA Today
22-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Former Saints first-round pick Trevor Penning is finally trying out at guard
Former Saints first-round pick Trevor Penning is finally trying out at guard Now that's interesting. The New Orleans Saints shared another video of quick cuts from organized team activities on Thursday, and Nick Underhill made a sharp-eyed observation. At one point the Saints were lining up Taliese Fuaga at right tackle with rookie draft pick Kelvin Banks Jr. at left tackle, and Trevor Penning at left guard. Fuaga and Banks were playing their college positions and Penning had moved inside. It's tough to pinpoint where that is in the clip, which is full of rapid cuts, but during resistance band work the Saints had Fuaga at right tackle with Cesar Ruiz at right guard and Will Clapp at center, with Penning positioned but not participating to Clapp's left, but Banks wasn't shown. Second-year tackle Josiah Ezirim was next up in the group of observing linemen, which included Penning and Landon Young. On paper, that would be the smartest way to get all three players on the field at positions they are best suited to. But it's something the Saints had been vocally resistant to. Both head coach Kellen Moore and his predecessor Dennis Allen had said they viewed Penning as a tackle, pointing to his improvement after moving to the right side. However, actions speak louder than words. For at least a little while Penning kicked inside at practice on Wednesday. We'll see if it lasts. Guys move around often this time of the year to find where they can be most effective. Maybe that means Penning stays inside at guard where his physicality is more of an asset and his slow feet aren't as great a liability. That approach worked out for Andrus Peat, another former first-round pick who the Saints moved from left tackle to the right side before he settled in at left guard. Or maybe the Saints' concerns are validated and they prefer to have Penning playing right tackle. Banks was projected as a guard by some draft analysts and he could be the better fit at that spot of the two. If the rookie does end up starting inside before moving out to tackle later in his career (assuming Penning leaves in free agency next year), he'd be following the same path that guys like Laremy Tunsil took to reach five Pro Bowls. OTAs and minicamp are about answering those questions. Practice time and what teams can do is heavily restricted here in May and June, and players won't even wear shoulder pads until training camp begins in late July. It's good that Penning is receptive to moving around to try and salvage his career, and that the Saints aren't as stubborn about keeping him at tackle as they have indicated when asked. We'll be watching to see if this new strategy works out for all involved.
USA Today
16-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Trevor Penning's teammates saw encouraging growth after move to right tackle
Trevor Penning's New Orleans Saints teammate saw encouraging growth after moving to right tackle, but will he stay there in 2025 and beyond? That's a question head coach Kellen Moore must answer this offseason with the potential for upgrades available in this year's NFL draft. But if his veteran teammates have anything to say about it, Penning has done enough to stay at his spot and continue to develop. Right guard Cesar Ruiz said his first year playing next to Penning was an eye-opening experience. Ruiz grinned when asked about 'Big Trev' by former offensive lineman and NFL analyst Ross Tucker. 'Me personally, I think Trevor's one of the best run blocking tackles, like in the league. I think he's one of the best. I don't know the rankings but he's one of the best. Very athletic,' Ruiz said. He pointed to one example of Penning putting his rare athleticism to good use on a 'sift block,' a task usually given to a tight end that can be challenging for a 325-pounder like Penning: 'It's crazy. We run an outside zone to the left, like a 19. Trevor has a sift to a safety. I cut off my 2i and I just look on film and Trevor's all the way on the left sideline hitting the safety. I'm like, 'What's going on? I don't know how he gets this energy but I love it.' He's a dog. He's really getting comfortable with that role. I'm proud of him.' Obviously Penning still has room to grow. He's still a work in progress in pass protection. Pro Football Focus charting found he allowed 54 pressures on 663 snaps on passing downs last year, the most among right tackles around the league. 11 of them came in a single game against the Green Bay Packers, but Penning was charged with giving up two or fewer pressures in nine other games. He showed more good than bad. But something else to keep track of is his knack for drawing penalty flags. That hasn't been as big a problem as anticipated when the Saints drafted Penning, but it did get out of hands at times. He was fouled 13 times in 2024, third-most among right tackles and tied for eighth-most among all offensive tackles. Penning drew three penalties for unnecessary roughness, one for a low block, and another one for a facemask. For his part, Ruiz is giving Penning some grace: 'He's just learned the position, moved from the left side to the right side. Even in pass pro, I think he improved so much in pass pro. This is my first season playing next to him. But we say to Trev, because when he was in his rookie year, second year, Trev was like 'I'm going out here to kill people.' And we were like, you've got to do it within the whistle, you've got to be smart with it. Now he's figured it out. He's like, 'I'm going to go punish this dude and get them to throw a flag.'' There's certainly room for an enforcer on the offensive line, and Penning has proven he can be an asset when running the football. The question is whether he can improve quickly enough in pass protection to stay at right tackle and earn a long-term contract extension. The Saints must choose whether to pick up his fifth-year option for 2026 by May 1. If they don't, he'll be a free agent after the 2025 season. Two weeks later on May 15 he'll turn 26. If Moore and his staff don't want to commit to Penning long-term, they could very well draft his replacement — guys like Will Campbell (LSU), Armand Membou (Missouri), and Kelvin Banks Jr. (Texas) will all be 21-year old rookies. Someone could move to left guard, but you'd like to see Penning stay on the right side after playing his best football there. It sure sounds like Ruiz would love to keep 'Big Trev' lining up next to him in the fall.
USA Today
28-01-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Saints have tough calls to make on fifth-year options for 2022 draft picks
Here's another tough call the New Orleans Saints must make this offseason: Whether or not to pick up the fifth-year options for Chris Olave and Trevor Penning? It isn't something they'll have to decide overnight — that window opened on Jan. 6 and closes on May 1, just four days after the 2025 NFL draft — but it will have to be dealt with eventually. Both players are under contract for 2025, but this will determine whether they'll be locked in for 2026. And it may not be as simple a call as you'd first think. The decision to pick up team options for Marshon Lattimore and Ryan Ramczyk was an easy one, and you have to think that's what the Saints hoped for when they drafted Olave and Penning back-to-back a few years later. Things just haven't gone that way. The formula for determining how much these fifth-year options are worth has gotten a little complicated. The latest NFL collective bargaining agreement introduced different categories for payouts determined by play time and Pro Bowl appearances, but the two Saints players we're looking at fall into the lowest tier. That's been summarized by Over The Cap's experts as 'Players who do not meet any of the requirements below will be eligible for a fifth year base salary calculated from the average of the 3rd to 25th highest salaries at their position over the past five seasons.' Neither Olave nor Penning have made a Pro Bowl yet. They also haven't met criteria for playtime due to injuries or, in Penning's case, being benched midway through his second season. Because of those qualifiers and the rising wages of veteran players at each position, OTC estimates the 2026 salary cap cost to pick up Penning's fifth-year option is actually higher than Olave's — $17,412,000 for the offensive lineman compared to $15,161,000 for the wide receiver. All of that money is guaranteed and while it can be restructured (as the Saints did before with Marcus Davenport), it's still a heavy lump to take. Let's be honest: Penning hasn't played well enough to earn that fifth season in black and gold just yet. The better move is to decline the option and have him play out a contract year in 2025 with a new coaching staff (and maybe another new position if he's moved inside to guard). He showed enough growth last year to warrant a longer look at right tackle, and he at least won't be seen as a cuts candidate going into training camp. But beyond that, he hasn't earned much trust. The Saints need to see it to believe it, and so do we. Now what about Olave? It's his health that makes this a question. A series of concussions limited him to just eight games last year, but he was averaging his lowest numbers in receiving yards (50.0) and receptions (4.0) per game even when he was healthy and available. He hasn't been able to play a full 17-game season since the Saints drafted him. You don't want to hold that against him too strongly, and context matters here. If the Saints do pick up Olave's option he would have a salary cap charge of about $15.1 million in 2026. Right now, that would rank 15th among his peers at wide receiver, and that's before big names like Tee Higgins, Chris Godwin, and Amari Cooper sign lucrative contracts this spring. If Olave can stay healthy and produce in another new offense, that could end up looking like a bargain. But if his long-term health is a concern and so is his ability to reliably play like a top-15 receiver? Then it becomes a more fraught decision. So right now we're leaning towards declining Penning's option but picking up Olave's. What would you do? The Saints have months to decide, and they can't take these decisions likely.
