The Saints are making a very public bet on Kool-Aid McKinstry.
Not just that he’ll be good. Not just that he’ll hold up. They’re acting like the third-year cornerback is ready to take the kind of jump that changes the feel of a defense, the same way Chase Young did a year ago when New Orleans kept hearing, again and again, that more was coming.
Justin Reid is one of the loudest voices in that chorus.
The Saints safety has spent the offseason talking up McKinstry’s growth from the start of the workout program through training camp, pointing to the way the cornerback has been showing up around the ball with urgency and ease.
“That cat is going to be something special,” Reid said.
That kind of praise has been a theme all summer. Players, coaches and even general manager Mickey Loomis have all singled out McKinstry, sometimes in response to a broader question about the secondary and sometimes completely unprompted. Loomis even brought him up as one of the players the Saints are counting on to make another leap in 2026.
“The leap he made from Year 1 to Year 2 was pretty good,” Loomis said. “We need another.”
That sounds a lot like the way New Orleans handled Young last summer. The message was clear: we believe in you, but we need more. Young answered with a career-high 10 sacks in 12 games, even after missing the first five weeks with a calf injury.
Now the spotlight has shifted to McKinstry, and the setup makes sense. The Saints lost Alontae Taylor in free agency to the Tennessee Titans, and instead of chasing a big-name replacement, they’re leaning on safety Jonas Sanker in the slot and expecting McKinstry to keep climbing as a No. 1 corner. Taylor had played both inside and out, so that’s a real role to fill.
McKinstry is also back in No. 1, the number he wore at Alabama before Taylor had it in New Orleans. It’s a small detail, but it fits the idea of a player trying to reclaim the kind of profile he had in college, when he was viewed as a true shutdown corner.
McKinstry hears the noise. He just isn’t changing his approach because of it.
“I’m the type of guy that keep my head down and work,” McKinstry said. “I thank (my teammates) for that recognition. It just showed me that my work is paying off, but me, I’m the type of guy that I’ve got to keep my head down and work and be able to do this day in and day out.
“That’s the type of guy that I am.”
This offseason, McKinstry took that literally and put his conditioning first. Back home in Birmingham, he spent his time running - miles, sprints, 40-yard dashes, all of it - because, as he sees it, cornerbacks have to be able to run.
He didn’t arrive at that conclusion alone. McKinstry said former Alabama coach Nick Saban drilled into him that a corner has to be ready to play every down, even if the ball only comes his way a handful of times. Saints defensive coordinator Brandon Staley also helped shape that thinking, pointing McKinstry toward Jalen Ramsey’s conditioning when McKinstry asked about some of the greats Staley had coached before coming to New Orleans.
“You got to be able to run all day,” McKinstry said.
That work has shown up in camp. Before a minor ankle injury kept him out of team drills Friday, McKinstry had been one of the Saints’ best performers early on.
One play stood out in particular: his pass breakup against Devaughn Vele, when he closed fast and knocked the ball loose from the receiver’s hands. Even without pads, McKinstry was playing with the kind of physical edge and control that made him hard to beat.
The Saints believe that’s not a fluke. They saw McKinstry improve noticeably in the second half of last season, and the numbers back that up, even if Pro Football Focus’ charting is subjective.
Over the first nine games, he allowed 32 catches for 444 yards and five touchdowns. Over the final eight, those numbers dropped to 17 catches for 228 yards and three touchdowns.
That’s why the bar has been raised again.
Young understands the dynamic. Last year, Cam Jordan said they wanted to see waves, not splashes, from the pass rusher.
Pete Werner said Young needed to be “on his game” in the fall. Young said that kind of pressure came from a good place and helped push him.
This year, Young can see the same thing happening with McKinstry.
“He knows he has to step up,” Young told the Times-Picayune. “It’s good.”
There’s more at stake here than just team production. McKinstry is heading toward the final year of his contract in 2027, and if he keeps ascending, a major extension could be waiting before that season even starts.
He’s already watched a familiar script play out for Chris Olave, who recently signed a four-year extension worth up to $132 million. McKinstry said he’s not trying to measure his path against anyone else’s, but he has heard what his teammates are saying.
And that has given him something to chase.
“I feel like that’s something I’ve got to do for these guys,” McKinstry said, “to make sure their word come to life.”
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