Well, the New Orleans Saints took the word “deadline” in the trade deadline seriously as they made a last-minute trade on Tuesday. With about two minutes before to go, it was announced that they would be sending left guard Trevor Penning to the Los Angeles Chargers.

This is one move that can definitely fit into the category of unexpected. Yes, Penning has had more ups and downs in his career than he’d probably like to care for; however, this trade is not how people expected his time in New Orleans to end.

The haul wasn’t much. Los Angeles will be sending a 2027 sixth-round pick down south to New Orleans in exchange for the former 2022 first-round pick.

Former Saints OL Trevor Penning could never get it going in New Orleans

Coming out of Northern Iowa, Trevor Penning was known to be a player with a nasty streak. That intensity was something that the Saints were in desperate need of back in 2022, having lost their franchise left tackle Terron Armstead in free agency.

However, his rookie season got off to a slow start. In Penning’s first preseason game, he had his foot stepped on by a defender. Diagnosed with turf toe, he would miss the first half of the season. He was a few drives away from ending his first NFL season on a high note too, except in the Saints season finale he would suffer a lisfranc injury in his foot, something that typically takes five to six months to recover from.

Not having a healthy offseason, Penning struggled heavily at the start of his sophomore season. So much so that he was benched partway through, although he would return near the end of the season.

For the 2024 season Penning would flip to the opposite side of the offensive line, playing right tackle instead of left. The move was kind of confusing seeing that first round draft pick, Taliese Fuaga, played right tackle in college. They decided to put him at left tackle, and Penning replaced the retiring Ryan Ramczyk. But that move wouldn’t turn out to do much good, as he would switch positions the very next season, starting out this season at left guard.

Shuffling around the offensive line, it was clear that Penning needed a fresh start. The writing has been on the wall for some time now that he was on his way out. The Saints tried to give him a fresh start at different positions, but maybe a change of scenery is all he needs to become the player the Saints drafted him to be.