The New Orleans Saints have been monsters in the undrafted free agent pool for years. Rashid Shaheed, Deonte Harty and J.T. Gray are all former All Pro players, and the Saints snagged all of them as undrafted free agents. The history of success goes all the way back to Pierre Thomas and continues with Juwan Johnson.
The Saints have had a knack for finding the diamonds in the rough, but they'll be nearly as active in the pool this year as they have been in previous years. They made all of their full allotment of picks during the draft, swapping a fifth for a seventh in this year due to the Tyree Wilson trade. Having bigger classes consecutively contributes to the size of the roster and leaves less room for UDFAs.
Loomis also mentioned they pick their UDFAs based on a mix of player grade and positional need. It's usually a conversation for the 7 rounds of the draft, but the same thought process carries over into UDFA signings.
Running list of Saints undrafted free agent signings
Last updated: April 26 @ 8:20 am CST
OT Alan Herron, Maryland
TE Cody Hardy, NC State
OL Alex Wollschlaeger, Kentucky
CB Jeremiah McClendon, Southern Illinois
DT Keeshawn Silver, USC
EDGE Miachael Heldman, Central Michigan
DB Dashawn Jones, Alabama
K Mason Shipley, Texas
RB CJ Donaldson, Ohio State
Loomis said he expected the Saints to pick up about 10 players. The list is currently at 9, so they may just stop here. They've found a couple diamonds in the rough. Per NewOrleans.Football's Nick Underhill, Herron received a whopping $272,000 in guaranteed money. That's a lot for a UDFA, so he's one of the players to watch as camp goes on.