Tampa Bay’s former second-round pick Justin Evans, who has spent the past two years out of football recovering from injuries, is signing a one-year deal to play safety for the New Orleans Saints, per his agent Kevin Conner of @UniSportsMgmt. He is now healthy and ready to play.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 4, 2022
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the New Orleans Saints have agreed to a one-year deal with free agent safety Justin Evans. Like Marcus Williams and Marcus Maye, Evans was a second round pick in the 2017 NFL draft — picked by Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of Texas A&M at No. 50 overall, just behind Maye (No. 39 to the New York Jets) and Williams (No. 42 to the Saints).
So how does he fit in New Orleans? Pro Football Focus play-by-play charting found that Evans lined up at free safety on 853 of his 1,320 defensive snaps through his first two years in the NFL, making him an option to replace Williams at that spot while Maye works in as an underneath defender replacing Malcolm Jenkins at strong safety. But both Maye and Evans have experience in different roles, so he won’t be pigeonholed into one alignment. Look for Evans to compete with veteran backup P.J. Williams for the starting job.
Evans had four interceptions and eight passes defended during his first two seasons, but he suffered an Achilles injury in Sept. 2019 and was never able to get back on to the field. After missing the entire 2019, 2020, and 2021 seasons, he is back to being healthy and finally got another chance in the NFL. Here’s hoping it works out well for the 26-year-old.
