The #Saints plan to sign former #49ers DE Kentavious Street, per league source.
Street had multiple teams interested in signing him before reaching a deal. He didn't receive a restricted tender so was free to sign elsewhere.
— Mike Kaye (@mike_e_kaye) March 17, 2022
This could be a smart move. The New Orleans Saints are signing free agent defensive tackle Kentavius Street, as first reported by Pro Football Network’s Mike Kaye. Street has had a solid start to his NFL career, which we’ll get to shortly, but he’s maybe best known for breaking 11 of Drew Brees’ ribs during the 2020 season. Listed at 6-foot-2 and 287 pounds, Street posted a respectable 7.71 Relative Athletic Score coming out of college.
And that’s the interesting bit here: Street played at North Carolina State before making the jump to the NFL, where he was recruited and developed by then-Wolfpack defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen. The Saints of course hired Nielsen for the same job in New Orleans before promoting him to co-defensive coordinator this offseason. The player and coach clearly know each other very well and should be able to work on the same page pretty quickly.
As for Street the player: he broke out in 2021 with 19 pressures and 3 sacks, per Pro Football Focus, lining up over the B-gap on 290 of his 405 snaps. He figures to compete with Shy Tuttle as the second-ranked defensive tackle on the depth chart in New Orleans behind David Onyemata. Onyemata accounted for 32 quarterback pressures last year (despite missing six games with a suspension) while every other Saints defensive tackle combined for 31. So hopefully Street can juice up the interior pass rush.
One more thing. Street is a restricted free agent who the 49ers chose not to tender, meaning his contract will not figure into the 2023 compensatory draft pick formula. It’s unlikely his contract will clock in at a high enough number to matter either way, but the Saints can sign Street without jeopardizing a late-round pick they might receive for one of their unrestricted free agents like Kwon Alexander, P.J. Williams, or Tre’Quan Smith, should they sign elsewhere.
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