The New Orleans Saints have had a rather busy offseason with some pretty big signings in free agency as they prepare for the 2019 NFL season. While they didn’t have a lot of selections in this year’s NFL Draft, they did have five picks which look to bring a lot of talent to the roster. With the team’s rookie minicamp set to begin this weekend, the team was happy to reveal that all of their picks have been signed and are now under contract.
Due to some trades in past years, the Saints didn’t have a lot of picks in this year’s draft and they ended up with only five total. As reported by NOLA , they were still happy to get every single rookie signed and in place by the time their minicamp was set to begin on Friday, May 10.
While some of the players will need to battle it out for a roster spot with the team, some of the picks are expected to compete for starting positions. Erik McCoy was a second-round pick in the draft who will likely be fighting for a starting spot on the offensive line at either center or possibly a guard position.
All of the contracts for the five rookies are four years in length, which is typical for most draft picks. They will account for close to $3.3 million against the 2019 salary cap for the New Orleans Saints.
Signed ??: @GatorsFB safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson ( @CGJXXIII ) #Saints ?? pic.twitter.com/jVkx7bK0NZ
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) May 10, 2019
Some of the rookies were more than happy to hop on social media and share this stepping stone in their lives. Going from college to the NFL Draft and being signed by their first team is a huge deal, and they wanted to share it with the entire world.
https://twitter.com/AlizeMack97/status/1126633071447506949
Here are all five rookies signed by the New Orleans Saints from this year’s draft:
- C Erik McCoy – Texas A&M
- DB Saquan Hampton – Rutgers
- LB Kaden Elliss – Idaho
- DB Chauncey Gardner-Johnson – Florida
- TE Alize Mack – Notre Dame
Along with those draft picks, this weekend’s rookie minicamp will have a lot of other players trying to make an impression with the New Orleans Saints. After the draft was over, the Saints did sign a number of undrafted rookies as well and 10 of them have agreed to deals with the team.
The following list shows which 10 have agreed to deals with the Saints, but that doesn’t mean they will make the final roster for the NFL regular season.
- WR Deonte Harris – Assumption
- LB Chase Hansen – Utah
- WR Emmanuel Butler – Northern Arizona
- DB Darius Williams – Colorado State-Pueblo
- DT Kenny Bigelow Jr. – West Virginia
- RB Devine Ozigbo – Nebraska
- TE Jake Powell – Monmouth
- CB Jordan Wyatt – Southern Methodist
- G Mike Herndon – Pittsburgh
- DE Corbin Kaufusi – Brigham Young
