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The Saints had a plan.

While it might have looked like they reacted to the market after losing Marcus Williams in free agency, their actions since suggest they may have just wanted to do things a bit differently in the secondary.

Ending up with Tyrann Mathieu and Marcus Maye in New Orleans might have exactly what they wanted, not simply the reaction to losing Williams and Malcolm Jenkins (retirement).

The price tags tell the story. Mathieu and Maye come in at a combined average annual value of about $17 million. Williams ended up costing Baltimore $14 million per season, a considerable investment in one player. Still, New Orleans is using $7 million in cap space on the two players and easily could have had Williams at a cap number of around $4 million this season. He was affordable, especially considering the Saints still have $10 million in cap space.

But this offseason's approach suggests the Saints wanted something different in their secondary. While Williams is one of the better and rangier free safeties in the NFL, he mostly does one thing well.

New Orleans is looking for safeties who can play all over the field and be used in unpredictable ways. That's how they disguise looks and force quarterbacks like Tom Brady into mistakes. Now, they have plenty of those guys. Mathieu and Maye can play both deep as well as in the box. P.J. Williams lines up everywhere, including cornerback, and Bryce Thompson, another safety who has a good chance of making the roster, can play every position in the secondary.

The team has a clear type they want at those positions. More than ever, the safeties will be the identity of the defense. But to get there, they'll have to learn how to play with one another, and the key will be developing quality communication.

"Communicating more, understanding who's on the team," safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson said. "This roster (always changes). You have to understand who you got, respect it."

That process started this offseason to some degree. Some of the new pieces in the secondary started getting comfortable with the older veterans. Mathieu took part in every practice and began establishing himself as a leader. Maye participated in the walkthroughs even though his Achilles injuries knocked him to the sidelines during team periods.

Just being out there, Maye could start getting used to communicating with Mathieu and his teammates. Every rep, every moment matters. The team also seemed to nod toward how critical it will be for those two to become comfortable with one another.

"The Saints did a good job," Mathieu said. "They put our lockers right next to each other. It's kind of hard for me to avoid him. He's a good guy. He's one of those guys that's proven in this league that he can play."

Developing a rapport isn't always as easy as it seems. Williams and Jenkins took a while to get on the same page with everyone in the secondary early in the 2020 season. Busted coverages defined the early part of that campaign as Jenkins got acclimated with the team's scheme.

Maye played in a similar scheme to this one in New York, so his learning curve should be easy. Mathieu said he already feels comfortable with what the team is doing and joked there are only six possible coverages they can use. As for the things he doesn't know, he's eager to learn.

"His intensity in the classroom with the note-taking, the intelligent questions," co-defensive coordinator Kris Richard said of Mathieu. "The whole teaching process is what's been really impressive. He's a worker. He's a one-of-a-kind type of guy in regards to preparation."

The way the defense operates is very likely to change. With Williams and his elite range, the Saints often played single-high safety looks with Williams handling the deep portion of the field. Maye has done some of that throughout his career, as has Mathieu to a lesser degree, so these packages should remain part of the team's identity. But more likely, there will be more looks with two safeties splitting the field or one dropping down while the other plays deep.

New Orleans also is likely to tap into its depth at safety in a way we’ve never seen before. The Saints could easily find ways to get six defensive backs on the field as often as possible to take advantage of its talent and matchup better against the speed of opposing offenses.

However it ultimately looks, the shape of the defense is certain to be defined by what's happening at safety.