Saying "we couldn't afford him" is overly simplistic. And yes, while we had major cap issues, we all know the Saints, when they really want a player, can make some cap magic happen. I think they just didn't prioritize Trey. They had Cam, Davenport on a rookie deal, and Payton Turner. They felt comfortable at DE. But that ended up biting us in a big way and stemmed from major talent evaluation problems (as we know now). Probably some hindsight 50/50, but going with Davenport always stuck in my craw...we knew he was an oft injured one trick pony with a limited pass rush toolbox. I'm just not giving the Saints a pass on this one. And it kills me every time I turn on a Bengals game and see Trey do something amazing (while we are last in the league in sacks).
So, instead, we dedicated cap resources elsewhere...like tagging Marcus Williams, who we promptly lost to free agency.