The New Orleans Saints made a splash in the opening hours of free agency, it just wasn't in the area of the pool many were expecting.
The Saints have agreed to terms with veteran punter Ryan Wright, according to reports, on a 4-year, $14 million deal. It's a big contract for the former Tulane standout who spent the first four years of his career with the Vikings and signals a change in strategy at the position.
Wright will stabilize a position that has featured four different starters each of the past four years, the last three of whom have all been rookies (Lou Hedley, Matthew Hayball and Kai Kroeger). Wright is coming off a career year when he averaged 44.5 net yards per punt, which ranked No. 4 in the NFL. He also downed 25 punts inside the 20, the 12th most in the league.
The deal was agreed to early on in the NFL's "legal tampering" window, which opened Monday. Deals with other teams' free agents can not become official until the start of the new league year on Wednesday.
The Saints' earlier on was to re-sign DT John Ridgeway to a 2-year deal, while already re-signing safety Julian Blackmon earlier in the offseason. The biggest news, though, was the departure of Demario Davis, who agreed to a two-year deal with the New York Jets. They also inked a big splash later on with former Jaguars RB and Louisiana native Travis Etienne.
There are a handful of other big-name free agents to monitor for the Saints, including CB Alontae Taylor and DE Cam Jordan, both of whom are expected to test free agency for the first time in their careers