Poweredge R720 motherboard sas to Sata connector

[mladams]

I couldn't find an answer specific to my question with search. So I have 2.5" version of the R720. It only has 1 - 8 bay drive cage that Is full. I don't want to spend a ton on an additional cage and backplane. So would it work if I just bought a sas to sas cable or sas to sata forward breakout cable (depending on which drives I want to use) and place the drives in the empty spot where the cage would be? There's no need for me to have access to remove them from the front and it's a lot cheaper to just buy the cable. I'm just unsure if this would work. I can't find a reason it wouldn't. If anyone knows for sure your help would be appreciated.  

 

Here are links to the cables I'm referring to. One is (SAS TO SAS) & THE OTHER IS (SAS TO SATA FORWARD BREAKOUT)