Returning to New Orleans in 2021 to serve as an area scout, C.J. Leak enters his fifth season overall with the club and 16th on an NFL player personnel staff.
Leak returned to New Orleans after serving as the team's combine scout from 2016-17. From 2018-20, he served as assistant director of pro personnel of the Houston Texans, with Houston capturing two straight AFC South division titles from 2018-19.
Prior to his first stint with New Orleans, Leak spent eight seasons (2008-15) with the Buffalo Bills player personnel department, including three as an area scout. He received his start with the Bills as a pro personnel assistant and then worked three years as the team's BLESTO scouting representative. Leak spent three seasons (2005-08) as a defensive graduate assistant/recruiting quality control coach at the University of Florida, where he helped the Gators capture two BCS National Championships.
Before joining the NFL front office ranks, Leak spent a portion of 2006 on the Bills' practice squad and spent the 2007 preseason with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. As a collegiate athlete, he spent two years at Wake Forest before transferring to the University of Tennessee to finish out his playing career. Leak graduated from Tennessee in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in sociology.
Leak's father, Curtis, was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in 1976 and spent four years in the National Football League with Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay and the Los Angeles Rams. Leak's younger brother, Chris was the quarterback for the 2006 National Champion Gators and coached Florida's wide receivers in 2014.