Saints own surprising upper hand on the Falcons in their pursuit to sign star safety Justin Simmons

The need for another starting-level safety for the New Orleans Saints is seemingly growing. After some vague comments regarding the position earlier in the offseason, Saints head coach Dennis Allen made it clear on Tuesday that the Saints need someone to step up opposite Tyrann Mathieu on the back end.

Is that player on the roster currently? That's yet to be known.

Allen's harsh truth points to how badly the Saints may actually need Simmons - rather than just want him. Straightforwardly, New Orleans cannot afford to see Simmons sign elsewhere and feel comfortable about the back end of their defense to begin this year.

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A potential addition in free agency remains to be Justin Simmons. The two-time Pro Bowler visited the Saints last week, but no deal dried in ink. He also visited the Atlanta Falcons this week.

New Orleans does hold one major advantage over Atlanta in the two teams' path to signing the impactful defender. It may surprise some folks around the league.

Saints currently have more cap space than the Falcons

According to OverTheCap, the Saints have $10.7 million in salary cap space. The Falcons have a league-worst $3.5M in cap space currently.

With a roster that's relatively unproven for the Falcons, that may come as a shock to folks. New Orleans' roster, while older, is more talented, especially on the defensive side. Somehow, the Falcons do lack much cap space in the short-term.

We will see if the money side of it all plays a massive role in where Simmons lands, but the Saints have zero excuse to get outbid for the impressive safety if they're only competing with the Falcons.

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