Saints Re-Sign Tim Hightower
APRIL 15: The Saints’ signing of Hightower has been processed, and is now official, tweets Evan Woodbery of the Times-Picayune.
APRIL 8: After successfully revitalizing his NFL career last year with the Saints, running back Tim Hightower is returning to New Orleans. A source tells Katherine Terrell of NOLA.com that, after meeting last week, Hightower and the Saints have agreed to initial terms on a new deal.
A fifth-round pick in 2008, Hightower spent three seasons with the Cardinals and a fourth with Washington, but for several years, it looked like his brief stint in D.C. in 2011 might represent the end of his playing career. Having missed three full seasons, Hightower got a chance to return to the field in 2015 for the Saints, and made the most of it.
In eight games (three starts) for New Orleans last season, Hightower ran for 375 yards and four touchdowns on 96 carries, adding another 129 yards through the air on 12 receptions. Although the veteran back will turn 30 in May, he doesn’t have a ton of mileage on his legs due to his time away from the game — he has totaled just 619 career carries.
If Hightower hopes to continue his comeback story with the Saints during the 2016 season, he may have to beat out some competition to earn a spot on the 53-man roster. Mark Ingram, C.J. Spiller, and Travaris Cadet currently sit atop the depth chart in New Orleans, with players like Vick Ballard and Marcus Murphy in the running back mix as well.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Saints Hosted Tyler Ervin, Stephen Weatherly
- San Jose State running back Tyler Ervin is drawing interest around the league and could end up as a day two pick, says Pauline. The Panthers, Browns, Texans, Saints, and Patriots have hosted Ervin for pre-draft visits.
- Vanderbilt linebacker Stephen Weatherly has worked out for the Panthers, Patriots, Colts, and Cardinals, and has visited the Panthers, Broncos, Saints, Raiders, Chiefs, and Vikings. Meanwhile, Maryland linebacker Yannick Ngakoue worked out for the Texans, Cowboys, Saints, Colts, Titans, Ravens, Dolphins, and Patriots, in addition to making several previously-reported visits. Pauline believes both players may come off the board earlier than expected.
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Paxton Lynch Visited Saints
- Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch met with the Saints on Thursday and will visit with the Jets on Friday, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).
Saints Eyeing Garrett Griffin, Jeremy Cash
- Air Force tight end/long snapper Garrett Griffin is drawing interest from the Lions, Saints, Chargers, 49ers, Chiefs, and Broncos, as Aaron Wilson tweets.
- Duke safety Jeremy Cash had more than 10 teams at his pro day, including the Panthers, Steelers, Falcons, Cardinals, and Saints, tweets Rand Getlin of NFL.com.
Saints Meet With Jason Spriggs
Many view Spriggs as the best pure left tackle in the draft outside of Ole Miss star Laremy Tunsil. Spriggs has been rising on draft boards around the league and the Hoosiers senior has already visited the Broncos and Saints and worked out for the Titans and Ravens.
- Western Kentucky tight end George Fant is garnering attention from NFL scouts, Pauline writes. Fant, a former WKU basketball player, has also received consideration at offensive tackle, but scouts believe that he should be a tight end because of his soft hands. If Fant drops some additional weight (currently 296 pounds), the belief is that he can make it work at TE. Fant has (or has had) workouts with a number of teams including the Bengals, Broncos, Cardinals, Chargers, Saints, and Seahawks. While Fant is apparently rising up draft boards, fellow Western Kentucky tight end Tyler Higbee is seeing his stock fall due to an off-the-field incident.
Saints Hosting Noah Spence, Robert Nkemdiche
- Eastern Kentucky pass rusher Noah Spence is visiting the Texans today and will visit the Saints tomorrow, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. Meanwhile, another potential first-round defender with some off-field question marks, Robert Nkemdiche of Ole Miss, has visits on tap with the Saints and Bengals, says Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter).
Saints To Meet With Moritz Boehringer
- German wide receiver Moritz Boehringer had team visits with the Chiefs, Packers, and Vikings last week, as Andy Fenelon of NFL.com writes. On Monday and Tuesday, he met with the Rams, on Wednesday he’ll visit the Seahawks, and next week he’ll visit the Saints, Falcons, and Panthers. Boehringer started turning heads in the NFL last month and one scout estimated in March that he could go in the fourth round. Based on the number of teams interested in him, one has to wonder if Boehringer could go even earlier.
Saints Pick Up Kenny Vaccaro’s 2017 Option
1:48pm: Vaccaro’s option will be worth $5.676MM, per Joel Corry of CBSSports.com (Twitter link).
12:07pm: Saints safety Kenny Vaccaro has become the first player from the 2013 draft class to officially have his fifth-year option for 2017 exercised, according to Albert Breer of the NFL Network, who reports (via Twitter) that New Orleans has picked up Vaccaro’s option.
Vaccaro, 25, has been a full-time starter at safety since joining the Saints three years ago as the 15th overall pick in the 2013 draft. He played all 16 games for the first time in his career in 2015, and while he failed to record an interception for the first time, he set new career highs in tackles (104) and sacks (three).
Pro Football Focus viewed Vaccaro’s play favorably in 2015 as well, ranking him 27th out of 89 qualified players. Out of that group, only five safeties received a higher grade as a run defender than Vaccaro.
As is always the case under the league’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement, first-round picks have an extra year available on their four-year rookie contracts, but their teams must decide whether to exercise or decline that option year well in advance. The deadline for 2017 option decisions for 2013’s first-rouners is May 3rd.
The fifth-year option amount for safeties drafted in 2012’s first round is $5.278MM for 2016, so the 2017 figure should be a little higher than that. However, that salary doesn’t become fully guaranteed unless a player remains on his team’s roster on the first day of the 2017 league year, next March. For now, Vaccaro’s 2017 option salary will be guaranteed for injury only.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Myles Jack Works Out For Saints
Myles Jack told SiriusXM NFL Radio (Twitter link) that he has only worked out for the Dolphins and Saints so far. The UCLA linebacker, widely considered to be one of the top talents in the 2016 draft, is pegged to go No. 2 overall to the Browns in PFR’s (v. 1.0) mock draft. The Saints (No. 12 overall) and the Dolphins (No. 13 overall) may have to move up in the draft order if they want to land the athletic prospect.
- LSU linebacker Deion Jones has already visited the Saints, Ravens, and Jets, according to Rand Getlin of NFL.com (on Twitter). Jones is now set to visit the Eagles and Colts this week. He also had solo workouts with the 49ers, Dolphins, Titans, Lions, Falcons, and Panthers (link).
Jared Goff Visiting Saints
- In addition to meeting with San Francisco, Goff will visit the Saints, Eagles, and Jets in the coming days, tweets Michael Silver of the NFL Network. Unless Goff slips a little in the draft, at least two of those clubs would likely have to trade up to have a chance to land the Cal QB, so the fact that he’s meeting with those teams is interesting.