Saints sign undrafted returns specialist Malik Flowers out of Montana

The Saints have signed undrafted rookie WR Malik Flowers out of Montana, the school announced. He scored 7 touchdowns returning kicks in college:

Here’s a late undrafted free agent pickup for the New Orleans Saints. The Montana Grizzlies announced that wide receiver Malik Flowers has signed with New Orleans after not being picked in the 2023 NFL draft; he’s a 5-foot-11, 193-pound wide receiver who mainly worked as a returns specialist in college.

And he’s very impressive on kick returns. Flowers returned 92 kickoffs for 2,659 yards in his five-year career (an average of 28.9 yards per attempt), scoring 7 touchdowns in the return game. He wasn’t asked to field punts often, though, so he’ll need to work on that phase of the game to hang on with the Saints.

Flowers only played a bit part on offense at Montana until 2022, when he set career highs as a receiver — catching 31 receptions for 460 yards and a pair of touchdown grabs. He totaled 51 catches for 716 yards with 4 touchdown receptions in his career, along with 16 rushing attempts for another 251 yards and a touchdown run. He may have only timed the 40-yard dash in 4.52 seconds, but he can move when the pads come on.

The Saints don’t have a clear returns specialist on the roster right now with Rashid Shaheed lined up for a bigger role on offense, so there’s an opportunity for Flowers to make the cut if he performs well over the summer. He’ll get his first chance to shine at rookie minicamps in the next week or two.

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