The New Orleans Saints agreed to terms with first round draft choice DE Cameron Jordan today. The club also announced it has agreed to terms with the following veteran players: T Zach Strief, TE Tory Humphrey, LB Clint Ingram and DB Terrail Lambert. The club also announced that it has waived the following rookies: CB Josh Gatlin(waived/injured) and G Carl Johnson (waived/failed physical). The announcements were made by Saints' Executive VP/GM Mickey Loomis.
Jordan, a 6-4, 287-pound native of Chandler, Arizona was a four-year letterman at the University of California who played both left and right defensive end in a 3-4 scheme and appeared in 50 games with 33 starts. Jordan ended his collegiate career with 175 tackles (88 solo), 16.5 sacks for minus-89 yards, 34 tackles for a loss of 122 yards, four forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, an interception and five pass deflections.
Jordan is the ninth defensive end picked by the Saints in the first round and the first since Sean Payton became head coach in 2006. He is the son of Steve Jordan, who played college football at Brown, then for 13 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, where he was a six-time Pro Bowl selection, recording 498 receptions for 6,307 yards and 28 touchdowns.
Strief, an offensive tackle, was selected by the Saints in the seventh-round of the 2006 NFL Draft and has played in every game but two over the past four seasons. The 6-7, 320-pound product of Northwestern has played both tackle positions and tight end during his five-year career. Strief has played in 77 career games (regular season and playoffs).
Humphrey is a 6-2, 255-pound sixth-year player out of Central Michigan who has appeared in 31 games in his NFL career with two starts and has recorded 13 receptions for 181 yards (13.9 avg.) and nine special teams tackles. After originally joining the Saints towards the end of the 2009 regular season, Humphrey appeared in six games in 2010, starting two and had one 12-yard catch as he played a key role in blocking for the New Orleans running and passing attacks. The Saginaw, Mich. native originally entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent signed by the Indianapolis Colts in 2005 before moving on to the Green Bay practice squad and later their active roster, where he played from 2005-08.
Ingram, 6-2, 240 pounds, is a five-year veteran LB who signed with the Saints as a free agent in 2010. He did not play for the Black-and-Gold though, as he continued to rehabilitate a knee injury that ended his 2009 season in Jacksonville. Ingram has played in 56 career games, making 46 starts, and has registered 331 career tackles, 5.5 sacks, two interceptions, a FR, seven passes defensed and 10 special teams tackles. Ingram played his college football at Oklahoma before being selected in the third round (80th overall) by the Jaguars.
Lambert, 5-11, 190-pounds, played college football at the University of Notre Dame. He originally broke into the NFL as an undrafted college free agent with the San Francisco 49ers (2009) and has spent time on the practice squads of the Indianapolis Colts, St. Louis Rams and on the active roster in 2010 as a member of the Miami Dolphins. As a collegian Lambert played in 48 games for the Fighting Irish, starting the final three years and totaling 115 tackles, a half sack and four interceptions.
Gatlin, a CB, agreed to terms with the New Orleans Saints on 7/27/2011 after he played two seasons with the Bison after transferring from North Dakota State College of Science and finished his career with 31 tackles (19 solo) with five interceptions, including one returned 51 yards for a TD.
Johnson, a G, agreed to terms with the New Orleans Saints on 7/27/2011 after serving as one of Florida's more versatile offensive linemen, the past four season. Johnson saw time at LT, LG and C throughout his 49 game collegiate career with the Gators.
