Carl

Granderson

Granderson, a former undrafted free agent, is in the midst of a true breakout season for the Saints and was proactively compensated for his growth. The Saints originally signed Granderson before the 2019 season and he has since worked his way into one of the mainstays of the Dennis Allen and Joe Woods defense.

Granderson suffered an eye injury in the first half and was listed as questionable before being ruled out shortly after halftime. A rotational pass-rusher, Granderson had one QB hit and .5 sacks entering Week 4.

It’s a rare multi-year deal for an exclusive rights free agent, as the Saints owned Granderson’s rights for 2022 no matter what. Now they have taken care of Granderson’s restricted free agent season in 2023, as well. A role player heading into his age-26 campaign, Granderson has seen his snaps ascend the past two seasons, peaking at 448 in 2021.

Jordan is signed through 2024 and restructured his contract in 2021 as well. The Saints need to pull off some cap wizardry this offseason, and went back to the well on restructuring Jordan. Kpassagnon was due $3.25 million in 2022 with a $650,000 roster bonus, in the second year of a two-year deal. Among edge players, he graded out at Pro Football Focus’ 85th pass rusher in 2021. The Saints also re-signed exclusive rights free agents DL Carl Granderson and DL Jalen Dalton.

Granderson had been sentenced to six months in a Wyoming prison after pleading no contest to sexual battery but was released from jail last week after a judge overturned his punishment, instead giving him a year of probation. The Saints now have two weeks to activate him. Before Granderson left the team to serve his jail term, the undrafted rookie had been pushing for a backup role behind starting defensive ends Cameron Jordan and Marcus Davenport.

The UDFA was recently sentenced to six months in a Wyoming jail stemming from a sexual battery case. He is expected to miss the entire 2019 season. It’s frankly surprising that Granderson has not been released.

The Saints knew about the case when they signed Granderson as an undrafted free agent out of Wyoming in April. Coach Sean Payton claimed the team was “real comfortable” with everything it knew. It is hard to see how Granderson keeps his roster spot.

Granderson (6’5/254) was a four-year contributor and three-year starter on the Cowboys’ defensive front, amassing 35.5 career TFLs, 17.5 sacks, and three forced fumbles. As Granderson’s sack production dipped from 9.5 as a junior to 3.0 as a senior, he fell from first- to second-team All-Mountain West before underwhelming with 38th-percentile SPARQ results in Indy. Granderson does offer straight-line speed (4.79) rushing ability and plus length (34-inch arms) but consistently got washed out in run defense at Wyoming and lacks a variety of pass-rush moves. His probable ceiling is a special teams player with sub-package value on defense.