As new Saints defensive tackle Khalen Saunders joins the Saints, he brings with a Super Bowl pedigree and what he considers to be something of a unique specialty.
And no, it's not the ability to do a perfect back handspring as a 300-pound man, which feels pretty unique in its own right. It's the ability to mesh into new locker rooms with ease.
"I’m just a naturally, goofy, just kicking it, chilling. I’m not too serious all the time but I know when to be serious,' he told WWL. "I say that’s my specialty because I like to be friends with people. I don’t like the feeling of somebody not liking me or somebody having an issue with me. Because, why be that way?"
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He described it as being a "y'all person," which is certainly a good type of person to be in his new home of New Orleans. And don't worry, he's got references. In his four years with the Chiefs, he shared locker rooms with current Saints Tyrann Mathieu, Tanoh Kpassagnon and current free agent Dan Sorenson.
It even goes back to high school, where he describes as the big, star football player who was friends with all the tech kids. Saunders didn't receive much college scouting interest out of high school, but starred at Western Illinois. The program even trusted him to host recruits because of his ability to connect with people, and he claims he had an almost perfect record in that department, with maybe two recruits choosing different schools in the end. Kansas City Saunders in the fourth round of the 2019 draft, and he's been active in both Super Bowl wins (2019 & 2022).
"I don’t care if you’re 4th string, I don’t care if you’re 1st string, I don’t care if you’re All-American," Saunders said. "I’m gonna treat you like a homie. … Y’all gonna learn that over my next few years here, is that’s the type of person I am. I just spread love and receive it, man.”
On the field, though, is a different story. As Saunders will tell you, he's built to be a run-stuffer, and that's what he does best. But he's also got the athleticism -- evidenced by the aforementioned backflipping -- and good feet to get upfield when needed.
"I definitely use violence in my hands and stuff like that, and then also just raw athleticism," he said. "I take pride in being an athlete. ... I definitely take pride in that and just catching people off-guard."
There's no question that skillset fills a need for the Saints, with DTs David Onyemata and Shy Tuttle departing in free agency, along with DE Marcus Davenport. Another DT from the 2022 season in Malcolm Roach is also testing the free agent market. Saunders' signing came on the first day of free agency, just minutes after another contract was handed out to former Jets DT Nathan Shepherd.
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It's a scenario that creates an opening for Saunders, but it's not the reason he chose the Saints. In fact, he tells WWL that he didn't even know about the line departures when he picked his new team. That happened because of how the Saints front office approached Saunders' agent. They wanted him in New Orleans. They had a number they were willing to pay. If it worked for him, it'd definitely work for them. His agent did his job and shopped around, but it didn't take long to arrive back at the team that wanted him first. In the end, it was an easy decision.
"The Saints came back like, ‘all right, what’d you find? We want him here,’" Saunders told WWL. "Once they told me that I was like, 'all right, we don’t got to shop around no more.' Obviously you can look for a higher dollar amount. You can look for a higher contract. But that ... desire that they have for me and how they got plans for me. I’m a humble guy, and stuff like that, I take into account. I take it to heart.”
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In the end, the scheme Saunders will be joining played a role, too. Saunders and Mathieu met for dinner on Thursday at Ruth's Chris Steak House, he said, and they got to talking about the biggest difference in New Orleans from what he played with the Chiefs: It's aggressive and attacking. There's no sitting back and waiting for the offense to go win a game -- an approach that makes a whole lot of sense when you have Pat Mahomes on the other side of the ball. In New Orleans, at least these days, it's defense-first.
"You really get to get after it. You really can pin your ears back and everybody is picking up the havoc from everybody. ... I like that type of defense," Saunders said.
He continues: "I had the luxury of playing with an offensive team. It's beautiful. It's fun. But I am excited to get to some traditional defense, for sure."
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Oh, and a side note: Yes, the big man can still pull off the backflip.