When the New Orleans Saints signed veteran guard David Edwards to a four-year, $61 million deal in March, the contract was another significant commitment for a team that consistently invests heavily in the offensive line.

Over the past five seasons, the Saints have drafted three tackles — all in the first round. New Orleans has given big-money extensions to homegrown interior linemen that they also drafted relatively high. And they’ve spent big in free agency.

All those resources haven’t paid off.

The Saints entered the season expecting their offensive line to be one of their main strengths. Instead, as New Orleans prepares to face another blitz-heavy team for Sunday’s game against the New York Giants, quarterback Tyler Shough has faced more pressure than any other quarterback in the league. The run game has again struggled to get off the ground. And the two cornerstone positions — left tackle and right tackle — have vastly underperformed.

It’s not for a lack of trying.

“We’ve got some good guys up there,” coach Kellen Moore said. “Obviously, we’re all continuing to work hard, put ourselves in position to be more successful. … We’ll just keep getting better.”

Grounded run game

The day after last Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings, the Saints showed footage from the team’s 15-play, 66-yard drive to players.

To offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier, the series was an example of how the Saints’ run game is supposed to look. Physical. Downhill. Creating movement.

“That’s what we’re capable of,” Nussmeier said.

To this point, those clips have been hard to find.

Like last season, the Saints have one of the worst rushing attacks in the league. New Orleans’ 3.5 yards per carry ranks fifth-to-last. Is it the running backs? Is it the line? Is it the scheme itself? The blame can be passed around.

But the line specifically hasn’t generated enough physicality consistently. Moore regularly speaks about the importance of creating a push to attack the second level of the defense. But this season, according to Next Gen Stats, the Saints’ running backs have averaged less than a full yard before contact at 0.83 — also the league’s fifth-worst mark. The stat suggests defenses are making contact with the backs quickly in part because there’s little space for them to run.

And yet, the Saints’ line has done its job, at times. The unit ranks 16th in an ESPN metric called run block win rate, which judges whether a unit or player can sustain their block for 2.5 seconds or longer. And according to Next Gen Stats, the Saints have rushed for 81 fewer yards than expected. That stat suggests the Saints’ running backs aren’t taking advantage of the blocks created.

Whatever the case, the outcome hasn’t been what the Saints have wanted.

“Our motto is and always will be, ‘Take care of the down guys first,’” center Erik McCoy said. “That’s how you create the most interior push. Do I think there’s room for growth there? Yes. … It’s hit and miss. Some plays yes, some plays no. Some games yes, some games no. There’s not a consensus.”

Individually, the Saints’ linemen are also hit and miss when it comes to run blocking. McCoy ranks ninth among all interior linemen in run block win rate at 77%. Edwards is at 75.2%, followed by tackles Taliese Fuaga at 74.1% and Asim Richards at 72.2%. Guard Cesar Ruiz is last among the Saints’ current starters at 71.6%. Kelvin Banks, before going down with an ankle injury, led the Saints at 80.6%.

The league average run-block win rate among offensive linemen with at least 100 snaps is 72.1%.

“Success in the run game starts and ends with, ‘Did we do our job that we practiced at the beginning of the week?” Edwards said. “Did I use the technique that applies to the defense’s technique? Did I hit the block the way that Erik is expecting me to hit the block? Did I hit the block that Asim is expecting me to block? I don’t worry about the back’s track. I don’t worry about the tight ends.

“I worry about my role within the overall big picture. … Then you just try to get everyone to do that together and that’s when you have successful run games and high efficiency outputs.”

Not living up to labels

One reason the Saints aggressively pursued Edwards in the offseason is that, based on how last season finished, left guard appeared to be the missing piece for a promising offensive line.

And through five games, the Saints’ splashy signing has been mostly fine. He’s allowed 11 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, but zero sacks. According to ESPN, he holds a pass block win rate of 85.1%.

But a greater concern has emerged this season — one that changes the potential long-term outlook of the line.

The tackles haven’t been cornerstones.

Banks, unfortunately for the Saints, suffered a serious ankle injury in Week 2 that will reportedly keep him out at least until December.

Richards, his replacement, has struggled immensely. Despite only giving up one pressure against the Vikings, Richards has given up a pressure rate of 12.7% — the NFL’s second-highest, according to Pro Football Focus. The Saints flirted with benching Richards for third-string tackle Mason Murphy against the Vikings, but stuck with Richards after Murphy was uneven in his lone drive.

But Richards isn’t the only Saints tackle in the top 10 of pressure rate allowed. Fuaga ranks eighth at 9.4%. And because the Saints throw the ball so much, Fuaga actually leads the league in total pressures allowed with 21.

Fittingly, right below Fuaga in pressure rate allowed is Los Angeles Chargers tackle Trevor Penning — the former Saints bust whose own inconsistencies led New Orleans to draft Fuaga.

“We’ve played in a couple obvious pass situations and those become challenging for everyone,” Moore said. “We’ve got to do a better job overall as an offense to execute and play cleaner football. Tali’s certainly had some good moments in this season, and like any player, he’s just trying to get better.”

The Saints’ approach upfront hasn’t done any favors in pass protection.

Moore is right that the Saints haven’t helped their linemen by falling behind and putting them in obvious passing situations, which in turn makes it easier for opposing teams to pressure. But the Saints are often leaving their tackles on an island, 1-on-1 matchups that don’t see running backs, tight ends or the nearby guard contribute help.

According to Next Gen Stats, Shough’s 86 pressures lead the league and the second-year quarterback ranks 15th in pressure rate at 38.3%. Shough’s play style also arguably opens him up to a higher sack rate since he has an aggressive mindset and tries to keep plays alive.

When the Saints give up pressure, they give it up quickly — with opponents’ average time to pressure just 2.59 seconds, the NFL’s seventh-fastest speed.

But Fuaga has contributed to that time. Per FTN Fantasy, which charts pressures differently than Pro Football Focus and Next Gen Stats, seven of Fuaga’s allowed pressures have come under 2.5 seconds.

And in his third season, Fuaga’s regression raises uncomfortable questions for the Saints. New Orleans will have to decide in the offseason whether to pick up the 24-year-old’s fifth-year option, projected to be $22.3 million. And that’s a large number for a tackle who has gotten beaten as often as Fuaga, who also dealt with injuries last season.

If his option is declined, would the Saints be better off trying Fuaga at guard — the spot that many draft experts wondered if he’d be better suited for given his size. But that would then leave the Saints searching for yet another tackle — which may require using another premium draft pick.

Since drafting McCoy with a second-round pick in the 2019 draft, the Saints have used a first- or second-round pick on an offensive lineman in a third of those selections. That’s tied for the league’s second-highest rate, behind only the Texans — who have drafted seven offensive linemen across 18 first-or-second round picks since 2019.

General manager Mickey Loomis has always believed in investing heavily in the trenches — 18% of his picks have been offensive linemen, the 14th-highest rate among all teams since 2002 — but the upswing of late also reflects some of the Saints’ problems in either identifying, or developing, talent upfront.

The Saints drafted Fuaga because they missed on Penning. Then, a year later, the Saints drafted Banks with the eighth overall pick, partly because it let Fuaga move from left to right tackle, his college position.

More resources may be required once again.