The New Orleans Saints released Jahri Evans. Then the Seattle Seahawks cut him as he lost the preseason battle to start as guard for them. Now, the Saints are thinking about bringing him back.
Evans has played his entire NFL career (2006-2015) for the Saints, making four first team all-pro selections, helping them win the Super Bowl in 2009, and making the Pro Bowl six times. Even last season dealing with a knee injury that made him miss five games (missed only two previously during his career), he was in the top third of players in his position around the NFL.
So the Saints met with him, and are considering bringing him back. They’re planning to move Andrus Peat to left guard for good, which should make Evans ideal for the right guard position, where he has played his entire career. He was signed by the Seahawks for a minimum salary benefit of $80,000, which means it’s not going to be expensive for the Saints to bring him back.
In 2010, the Saints re-signed Evans with a seven-year, $56.7 million contract, which at the time made him the highest paid interior lineman in NFL history. He was released before the final season of his contract, when cutting him made more sense financially. Now he’s back, cheaper than ever, which makes him desirable to the Saints again, although another team could swoop in with a slightly better offer, considering the Saints are just under the salary cap.
Evans was a fourth round pick in the 2006 NFL Draft following a college career with Bloomsburg. He has appeared in 153 games over the 10 seasons for the Saints, missing only 7 games, playing all 16 games (starting all of them too) in 8 of those seasons.