2:01pm: Emerson’s visit evidently went well. He is signing a one-year deal with the Saints, The Exhibit’s Josina Anderson reports. Emerson, 25, intercepted four passes with the Browns in 2023, helping Cleveland rank first in pass defense, and broke up 29 passes between the 2022 and ’23 seasons.
The former Jim Schwartz piece can boost his 2027 free agency stock with a solid Saints season, as he will turn 26 before the ’27 FA period. Emerson will join a Saints team that waited until Day 3 to draft a corner despite losing Adebo and Taylor in free agency over the past two years. The Saints, who also traded Marshon Lattimore at the 2024 deadline, may need Emerson to commandeer a starting job. And it looks like the team is confident the former third-round pick will be recovered from his July Achilles tear.
12:46pm: Mickey Loomis said the Saints were interested in adding a cornerback early in the draft. The Chiefs certainly thought this was the case, trading in front of the NFC South club to make sure they landed LSU’s Mansoor Delane.
New Orleans did use fifth- and seventh-round picks on corners, but after losing Paulson Adebo and Alontae Taylor in consecutive offseasons, the team could use more help. Martin Emerson is now on the Saints’ radar, with NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport noting the sides will meet today. Emerson was a regular starter in Cleveland before a summer 2025 Achilles tear.
Emerson, a two-year boundary CB starter with the Browns, met with the Texans earlier this month. He is not expected to return to Cleveland, and the Achilles tear represented a bad contract-year break. A one-year “prove it” deal — something most of the remaining FAs will need to settle for — may well be in the cards now.
Loomis said (via ESPN.com’s Katherine Terrell) the Saints did have plans to grab a corner earlier; those not materializing leaves New Orleans vulnerable for the time being at the position. Taylor showed impressive versatility as a Saint, logging more than 1,500 snaps inside and outside during his four-year stay. While the Saints did see rookie Quincy Riley play 54% of their defensive snaps in a five-start 2025, they have not filled Taylor’s nickel post yet. Two years remain on Kool-Aid McKinstry‘s rookie contract. The Titans gave Taylor a three-year, $58MM deal with $42MM guaranteed at signing.
Emerson had usurped Greg Newsome as the Browns’ No. 2 corner, outsnapping the older cover man in 2023 and ’24. The 6-foot-2 defender has played almost exclusively on the boundary as a pro, making him ill-suited for a nickel role. Pro Football Focus graded Emerson as a top-30 corner as a rookie but slotted him outside the top 60 the following year and then placed him 113th out of 117 qualified options in 2024. The Browns, who eventually traded Newsome for Tyson Campbell before last year’s deadline, were still planning on using Emerson as a 2025 regular before his injury.
It appears we are moving closer to seeing Emerson catch on somewhere. Unless the experienced corner (33 career starts) needs more time to recover, landing with a team before its OTA sessions start makes sense.