<span style="">The New Orleans Saints announced today that the Club has agreed to terms on four-year contracts with fourth-round draft pick safety Malcolm Jenkins/Chip Vaughn.aspx">Chip Vaughn and fifth-round pick punter Thomas Morstead.
Vaughn, 6-2, 221 pounds, was selected by the Saints in the fourth round of the 2009 NFL Draft with the 116th overall selection.
The Wake Forest product appeared in 51 games for the Demon Deacons, starting 24 contests, making 258 tackles (170 solos) with 8.5 stops for losses of 11 yards and one pressure. Vaughn also caused one fumble and recovered four others, advancing one 38 yards for a touchdown. Over the course of his collegiate career, Vaughn was credited with 22 pass deflections and three interceptions for 37 yards in returns. In addition, he made 43 plays on special teams, including ten tackles on the kickoff coverage squad (9 solos), 20 hits on the punt coverage unit (14 solos) that included four stops resulting in no gains, two others for losses totaling 11 yards and a fumble recovery. Vaughn became the just the fourth defensive back in school history to lead the team in tackles (105 in 2007), joining Mark Lancaster (119 in 1977), Ernie Purnsley (123 in 1988) and Lamont Scales (142 in 1989)
"Malcolm Jenkins/Chip Vaughn.aspx">Chip Vaughn is a player that has good size, outstanding speed, and very good range," Payton said shortly after the draft. "He will probably begin his career with us at free safety because of his great speed and range. He has long and can really run.
Morstead (6-4, 225) was the highest draft pick among punters in the 2009 NFL Draft, as the Saints tabbed Morstead with the 164th selection overall. The SMU product was a four-year letterman who handled both punting and kicking duties at Southern Methodist for his final three seasons and ranked among the nation's top punters. During his career, he averaged 43.4 yards on 166 punts, with 59 downed inside the 20-yard line. In the placekickicking department, Morstead departed ranked fifth in SMU history with 217 points – including a school-record streak of 78 straight PATs
"He has a strong leg, we think the best leg in the draft," Payton said. "We think we've got a very good punter and the objective is to improve ourselves at that position. We think it's going to be a very good competition with Glenn (Pakulak)."
