Teams are well into the offseason at this point of the year. The spectacle of the draft has worn off, the big splashes in free agency have been made, OTAs and mini-camp are wrapping up for many teams, including the New Orleans Saints.

When it gets to this point of the season, the news can often slow down as well. However, the Saints made strides to create some continuity and improvement for the defense this past week.

Cameron Jordan signs with the New Orleans Saints through 2023

Back in the summer of 2015, Cameron Jordan signed a five-year/$55 million contract with the Saints as the All-Pro defensive end was locked up. Well on Tuesday, June 11th, the two sides made it clear they want to keep this going with a new three-year/$52.5 million deal. Contractually this will tie the two sides together until after the 2023 season.

This contract was a no brainer for the Saints. Jordan has been ferocious off the edge of the line and has shown consistent production for the defense. According to Pro Football Focus, over the past three seasons, Jordan has posted a defensive grade of 90 or better in each of those seasons.

Jordan has also been a four-time Pro Bowler, making it in back-to-back seasons in 2017 and 2018. He was first-team All-Pro in 2017 and second-team in 2018. He is one of the vital building blocks on a defense that has seen phenomenal advancement over the past two seasons.

From 2011 through 2016 (except for the 2013 season), the New Orleans Saints defense was graded as one of the most putrid in the league ranking in at either 31 or 32 every year. This past season the Saints were a top ten defense in the league, spearheaded by their smothering run defense and stellar linebacker play.

Jordan amassed 13 sacks through the course of the regular season and postseason in 2018, and accounted for 72 total pressures on the quarterback as well. Since signing the first five-year deal in 2015, Jordan has pressured the QB at least 70 times every season and has sacked the QB 47 times over the same period.

Jordan will turn 30 in July, and it now looks as though Jordan and the Saints will stay together until the end of his career. A pleasant sight to see in this age of free agency.

The Saints add secondary depth in CB Kayvon Webster

Last season started rough for the cornerbacks on the New Orleans Saints. Ken Crawley was horrendous over the first six games. With an average defensive grade of a 47.9 according to PFF, Crawley gave up four touchdowns and QBs were averaging a 154.8 passer rating when targeting him.

To be fair fellow CB and former Defensive Rookie of the Year Marshon Lattimore was struggling as well but was not even remotely close to the liability in coverage of Crawley. This chaos pushed the Saints to trade with the New York Giants for CB Eli Apple.

After bringing in Apple, the whole group saw a bounce back with Lattimore somewhat returning to his 2017 form, but the squad as a whole lacked depth. If either of Lattimore or Apple went down next up was Crawley and some plug and go players. Therefore, enter Kayvon Webster.

Webster came in as a tryout in Saints camp last week and competed with fellow free agents Coty Sensabaugh and Prince Charles Iworah. The Saints signed Webster on Monday according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Drafted in 2013 from the University of South Florida, New Orleans will be Webster’s fourth NFL franchise.

He had his best season in 2017 with the Los Angeles Rams, where he held his receivers to a 58% reception percentage, broke up six passes, intercepted one and made 32 tackles. He would play in eleven games before rupturing his Achilles and going on injured reserve for the rest of the season.

The Saints hope Webster can help them on the outside with his 4.34 speed while also contributing on special teams. However, injuries will be a concern after spending a copious amount of time out since the end of the 2016 season due to the Achilles, a concussion and a nagging quad injury.

Zachary Knerr is a writer for PFN covering the New Orleans Saints. You can follow him @ZachKnerr on Twitter.