The New Orleans Saints traded for San Francisco 49ers linebacker Kwon Alexander Monday.
“It was something that we worked on for a little bit here and fortunately we were able to work out the details with San Fran,” Saints coach Sean Payton said.
Payton said New Orleans sent linebacker Kiko Alonso and a conditional fifth-round pick, based on playing time, to 49ers for the former LSU standout who’ll begin his on boarding process with the team Tuesday.
Due to COVID-19 protocols, Alexander likely won’t be available for this week’s matchup with the Tamp Bay Buccaneers, the franchise that drafted him in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft, and Payton said the goal would be to have him available for the Saints’ following matchup, which would be against his former team the San Francisco 49ers.
When Alexander is ready, the Saints are hoping he’ll bring depth to the linebacking corps.
“We’ve had a chance, obviously, to have seen this player in our division,” Payton said. “We see him as a Will, competing over there with Alex (Anzalone) with Demario obviously playing more of the Mike role.”
Payton described Alexander as a "run and hit player" that boasts several impressive traits and has shown he’s a smart and instinctive linebacker with very good speed.
“It’s adding another player we think fits what we are doing,” Payton said. “Really, it’s more about that. It also gives us another athletic player at that position that can run.”
The 6-foot-1, 227-pound linebacker has logged 30 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble in five games this season. And he's racked up seven interceptions, 26 pass break ups, eight forced fumbles and 8.5 sacks through his six NFL seasons.
