Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
By Ross Jackson
One position the New Orleans Saints are likely to continue to address this offseason is cornerback after not landing the starting slot corner the team was targeting early in the NFL Draft. However, building depth along the perimeter will be a focus as well. The latter is where the Saints are concentrating with a free agency visit on the way Tuesday.
Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Saints are expected to host former Cleveland Browns cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. on a visit.
Emerson missed the 2025 season with an Achilles injury, but was a two-year starter for the Browns’ defense in 2023 and 2024. Since entering the league in 2022 as a third round pick (No. 68 overall), he’s taken more than 2,000 snaps at outside corner.
While the fifth-year defender wouldn’t immediately fill the Saints’ biggest need as a slot cornerback, he would open up a pair of possibilities for the Saints. If signed, he would either open up the possibility of moving another boundary cornerback to the STAR/slot role or could cross-train there himself. He piled on 80 tackles in the 2024 season, an impressive number to hit as a perimeter corner.
Martin Emerson Jr. of the @Browns looked like one of the NFL’s best young cornerbacks in 2023. 2024 was an injury-plagued season, and it really showed up on tape. Hopefully, all is well in 2025. Emerson did the best he could last year. pic.twitter.com/0nJ6JWaJkt
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) May 8, 2025
At 6-foot-1 and 201 pounds, Emerson has four career interceptions along with 34 passes defended, 20 of which Pro Football Focus has counted as a pass breakup, showing a propensity to affect the ball at the catch-point. He’s also allowed just a 55.5% completion percentage when targeted and an 83.8 passer rating as the nearest defender.
Expect the Saints to be busy at this spot as training camp approaches, whether or not Emerson is signed.
