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This is interesting: NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill first reported that the New Orleans Saints met with former Cincinnati Bengals first-round pick Billy Price, selected at No. 21 overall in the 2018 draft. He was traded top the New York Giants in 2021 and started 15 games for them, but he spent time with the Las Vegas Raiders and Arizona Cardinals last season.
A three-time All-Big Ten center and two-time team captain at Ohio State, Price was college teammates with Saints stars like Michael Thomas and Marshon Lattimore but he hasn’t experienced as much success at the pro level. Price has short arms for someone his height (with a wingspan of just 75.25 inches; for perspective, there wasn’t a single offensive lineman at this year’s Senior Bowl with a wingspan under 77 inches) and it’s led to him grasping at opponents as they pass him by, too often resulting in penalties. He’s also simply dealt with the yips: Price has been fouled 31 times on 3,091 career snaps across 69 games and 16 of those penalties were false start infractions.
But the Saints like to keep a strong backup plan at center in light of recent injuries to Erik McCoy, who missed five games in 2021 and four in 2022; Cesar Ruiz has been his principle replacement, but that opens another hole at right guard. Guys like Will Clapp and Josh Andrews have filled in, too, and New Orleans has also stashed veterans such as Nick Martin and Austin Reiter on their practice squad, though they’ve left for other opportunities before their services were needed. Right now the only other player with much of a resume at center is undrafted rookie Alex Pihlstrom (Illinois). Maybe they see Price as someone similar with extensive pro experience who could be brought in later.
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