Quick Report: Another NFL team beat the #Saints to the punch with Nick Anderson. That team's head coach called Anderson personally to offer the UDFA a contract. The Saints quickly made the call after and managed to keep the #Tulane LB in NOLA.
Full story tonight at 10 on @WWLTV pic.twitter.com/fmbhHcXoYN
— Brooke Kirchhofer (@brookechesney) May 2, 2023
Here’s a really great scoop from WWL’s Brooke Kirchhofer, who shares that former Tulane Green Wave linebacker Nick Anderson was personally pitched by another NFL team’s head coach before he heard from the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent, but it would take more than that to sway him from staying in the 504.
“I was ready. I was on the phone with (Seattle Seahawks head coach) Pete Carroll actually, and discussing everything, and that’s when my agent said the Saints were on the phone,” Anderson recalled with a laugh. “I was like, okay, yeah I want to talk to the Saints.”
A native of Vicksburg, Miss., the prospect of playing three-and-a-half hours from home was too good to pass up. Even if the Seattle offer was compelling, a cross-country move was daunting, and in Anderson’s mind the relationship he cultivated with team personnel throughout his pre-draft experience had its own value.
Anderson continued, “They always really showed great interest. They were transparent with me about the whole process. They told me they would love to have me a part of the team, they would do everything in their power to make me a Saint. They said things may not go as planned throughout the draft. But if I was there, and they had the opportunity to get me, they would get me.”
He had hoped to be one of the team’s two seventh-round draft picks, but the Saints traded those away to move up and pick other players earlier on. So once Round 7 drew to a close, they called Anderson (while he was already on the phone with the Seahawks), and the rest is history. It didn’t take long for him to agree to terms with the Saints and throw on a Sam Mills jersey in celebration.
“They made me a solid offer, and I couldn’t turn it down, because that’s where I wanted to be,” he added.
Kirchhofer reports that Anderson received $25,000 in guarantees from the Saints, including a $15,000 signing bonus and $10,000 of guaranteed salary. He’ll have a good opportunity to compete with for a roster spot through his efforts on special teams, an area he’s well-versed; Anderson played at least 164 snaps in the kicking game each season in four years at Tulane, getting experience on five of the six units (everywhere but the field goal kicking team, where he isn’t exactly built to be a blocker at 5-foot-9 and 230 pounds). He’s an easy young man to root for. Our own Maddy Hudak shared Anderson’s story while he was preparing for the 2023 draft, and now Saints fans will get to see him continue playing football in the city he’s come to love.
