Hey, good for Alex Anzalone. The former New Orleans Saints linebacker played a personal-best 838 defensive snaps in 2021 with the Detroit Lions, and showed them enough to earn a one-year contract extension and return for 2022. And when discussing his new deal with Detroit media on Monday, Anzalone expressed eagerness to use his connections and try to bring more help for the Lions defense.
When asked whether he would throw his support behind a recruiting pitch for Saints free safety Marcus Williams, Anzalone was all smiles. He considers Williams one of his close friends, having been drafted together by New Orleans in 2017, and said, “If Dan (Campbell) and Brad (Holmes) give me the go-ahead, I definitely will.”
Williams makes a ton of sense for Detroit, despite their sensitive salary cap situation. His old position coach Aaron Glenn is now the Lions defensive coordinator, and could really use Williams’ help in cleaning up their secondary. The opportunity to earn a nice payday and work with people he knows well has to appeal to Williams. We’ll see if Anzalone’s influence is enough to push this one over the finish line.