(WWL) -- The New Orleans Saints traded for linebacker Kiko Alonso over the weekend and the 29-year-old NFL veteran found it very easy to describe his feelings about the move.
“I’m excited,” Alonso said. “When I heard about the news of the trade, coming here, there was nothing but excitement.”
New Orleans sent linebacker Vince Biegel to the Miami Dolphins Sunday in exchange for Alonso, who is coming off one of the best seasons of his career. In 2018, he tallied 125 tackles, six pass deflections, three interceptions and a forced fumble in the 15 games he started.
Alonso said he’d heard good things about the franchise and was eager to get to work.
“This is my first day here and it’s been great and like I said I’m looking forward to it,” he said.
He’ll join a position group which was already one of the deepest on the Saints’ roster with returning starters Demario Davis, Alex Anzalone and A.J. Klein all still playing at a high level.
Saints coach Sean Payton said the move to acquire Alonso was more about adding a good football player than addressing a need.
“We feel that we got a group of players that we’ve got a lot of confidence in,” Payton said. “The depth at that position has changed a little bit. But for us, it was really an opportunity to add a good football player to the roster.”
He added that he expects there to be a transition period while Alonso gets up to speed with New Orleans’ defense.
“I think it’d be premature to try to anticipate how it unfolds,” Payton said. “But we feel like he’s someone that, we played against him, he’s a tremendous effort player. You see it, feel it when he plays so we’ll be excited to welcome him here and find the right role as the season progresses.”