Latest news with #JulianBlackmon
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Saints add veterans in defensive end Jonathan Bullard and safety Julian Blackmon as camp opens
METAIRIE, La. (AP) — The New Orleans Saints have reached one-year contact agreements with defensive end Jonathan Bullard and safety Julian Blackmon. The club announced the pair of free agent deals on Wednesday evening, following the first practice of its 2025 training camp. Both players are joining a Saints defense that is changing systems under new coordinator Brandon Staley in what is also the club's first season under rookie coach Kellen Moore. The 6-foot-3, 290-pound Bullard is a nine-year NFL veteran who played in college for Florida before Chicago selected him in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He spent his first three seasons with the Bears before one year stints with Arizona (2019), Seattle (2020) and Atlanta (2021), followed by three seasons with Minnesota (2022-24). Bullard started all 17 games for the Vikings last season, finishing with 41 solo or assisted tackles, one sack and three quarterback hits. He also set career-highs with seven tackles for loss and three pass breakups. He has started 53 of 116 career games, recording 221 solo or assisted tackles, 6 1/2 sacks, 28 tackles for loss, eight pass breakups and two forced fumbles. The signing of the 6-foot, 202-pound Blackmon came one day after Saints safety and former LSU star Tyrann Mathieu unexpectedly announced his retirement from the NFL after 12 seasons. Blackmon has played all five of his NFL seasons with Indianapolis since the Colts made him a third-round draft choice out of Utah in 2020. He has started 62 of 66 games and has 10 career interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown. He also has 293 tackles, 1 1/2 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, 21 pass breakups, two forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries. ___ AP NFL: The Associated Press
Associated Press
a day ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
Saints add veterans in defensive end Jonathan Bullard and safety Julian Blackmon as camp opens
METAIRIE, La. (AP) — The New Orleans Saints have reached one-year contact agreements with defensive end Jonathan Bullard and safety Julian Blackmon. The club announced the pair of free agent deals on Wednesday evening, following the first practice of its 2025 training camp. Both players are joining a Saints defense that is changing systems under new coordinator Brandon Staley in what is also the club's first season under rookie coach Kellen Moore. The 6-foot-3, 290-pound Bullard is a nine-year NFL veteran who played in college for Florida before Chicago selected him in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He spent his first three seasons with the Bears before one year stints with Arizona (2019), Seattle (2020) and Atlanta (2021), followed by three seasons with Minnesota (2022-24). Bullard started all 17 games for the Vikings last season, finishing with 41 solo or assisted tackles, one sack and three quarterback hits. He also set career-highs with seven tackles for loss and three pass breakups. He has started 53 of 116 career games, recording 221 solo or assisted tackles, 6 1/2 sacks, 28 tackles for loss, eight pass breakups and two forced fumbles. The signing of the 6-foot, 202-pound Blackmon came one day after Saints safety and former LSU star Tyrann Mathieu unexpectedly announced his retirement from the NFL after 12 seasons. Blackmon has played all five of his NFL seasons with Indianapolis since the Colts made him a third-round draft choice out of Utah in 2020. He has started 62 of 66 games and has 10 career interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown. He also has 293 tackles, 1 1/2 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, 21 pass breakups, two forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries. ___ AP NFL:
Washington Post
a day ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Saints add veterans in defensive end Jonathan Bullard and safety Julian Blackmon as camp opens
METAIRIE, La. — The New Orleans Saints have reached one-year contact agreements with defensive end Jonathan Bullard and safety Julian Blackmon. The club announced the pair of free agent deals on Wednesday evening, following the first practice of its 2025 training camp. Both players are joining a Saints defense that is changing systems under new coordinator Brandon Staley in what is also the club's first season under rookie coach Kellen Moore.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Saints add veterans in defensive end Jonathan Bullard and safety Julian Blackmon as camp opens
METAIRIE, La. (AP) — The New Orleans Saints have reached one-year contact agreements with defensive end Jonathan Bullard and safety Julian Blackmon. The club announced the pair of free agent deals on Wednesday evening, following the first practice of its 2025 training camp. Both players are joining a Saints defense that is changing systems under new coordinator Brandon Staley in what is also the club's first season under rookie coach Kellen Moore. The 6-foot-3, 290-pound Bullard is a nine-year NFL veteran who played in college for Florida before Chicago selected him in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He spent his first three seasons with the Bears before one year stints with Arizona (2019), Seattle (2020) and Atlanta (2021), followed by three seasons with Minnesota (2022-24). Bullard started all 17 games for the Vikings last season, finishing with 41 solo or assisted tackles, one sack and three quarterback hits. He also set career-highs with seven tackles for loss and three pass breakups. He has started 53 of 116 career games, recording 221 solo or assisted tackles, 6 1/2 sacks, 28 tackles for loss, eight pass breakups and two forced fumbles. The signing of the 6-foot, 202-pound Blackmon came one day after Saints safety and former LSU star Tyrann Mathieu unexpectedly announced his retirement from the NFL after 12 seasons. Blackmon has played all five of his NFL seasons with Indianapolis since the Colts made him a third-round draft choice out of Utah in 2020. He has started 62 of 66 games and has 10 career interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown. He also has 293 tackles, 1 1/2 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, 21 pass breakups, two forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries. ___ AP NFL:
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
What are the Saints getting in former Colts safety Julian Blackmon?
Just what are the New Orleans Saints getting in Julian Blackmon? It's easy to look at his biography. The 26-year old safety played college football at Utah and was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts, where he started in all 62 games he played the last five years. He's had some injuries, but he's made some plays, too, with ten interceptions to his credit. But there's more going on here than that quick summary. What's his skill set, and what does he offer as the favorite to replace Tyrann Mathieu? To find out, I spoke with Colts Wire managing editor Paul Bretl. "Blackmon put together a career year in 2023, when the bulk of his playing time came at strong safety," Bretl told me. "He was a very reliable tackler that year and had good ball production with four interceptions and two pass breakups. This past season, Blackmon's production would dip, but he played through a shoulder injury for much of the year, and that injury was a factor in him moving back to more so playing free safety." That lines up with what I found after looking into Blackmon's alignment data from Pro Football Focus. PFF had him lining up in the box on 468 of his 987 total defensive snaps in 2023, compared to just 170 of his 1,084 snaps in 2024. He also missed 15 tackles last year compared to 7 missed tackles the year before. Maybe the shoulder issue was limiting Blackmon more badly last season than we first thought. From 2020 to 2022, his first three years in the league, he lined up in the box on just 173 of his 2,071 combined snaps. PFF charting found he missed 18 tackles in that three-year span. Now he's healthy and hoping to turn this one-year deal with the Saints into a career-changing contract extension. Blackmon has the skills and the experience to earn a big role in the New Orleans secondary. He just needs to stay on the field and do what he's done before to make the most of his opportunities. We'll be watching him.
