Tag: hail state

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Many New Orleans Saints were caught unawares in the closing minutes of the 2020 NFL Draft, when the Saints traded back into the seventh round to select a prospect known mostly to the cowbell-slinging fanatics at Mississippi State: quarterback Tommy Stevens.

But no Saints fan was as shocked as Stevens himself, except maybe Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady. Brady worked with Stevens as a graduate assistant at Penn State, before making the jump to the NFL as an assistant coach with the Saints some years ago.

He’d used that inside track to recruit Stevens as an undrafted free agent for the Panthers, selling his protege on a role as the next Taysom Hill — a vision the Saints shared. Brady first began experimenting with Hill’s playbook while at Penn State with Stevens, and later introduced that package to New Orleans. Stevens had given the Panthers a verbal commitment that he’d sign with them as an undrafted free agent.

Undaunted, the Saints initially tried to outbid Carolina; per Jeff Duncan of The Athletic, their offer ran up to and including a guaranteed salary of $144,000. No dice. Stevens had given his word to Brady and the Panthers, and wanted to honor it.

“We know the role,” Payton told Duncan. “We invented the role.”

A few phone calls later and the Saints had a deal in place, shipping their 2021 sixth-round pick (an asset they project to get back as a compensatory pick) to the Houston Texans so that they could draft Stevens.

When NFL commissioner Roger appeared on the draft broadcast to read off the Saints’ pick, Payton fired off a text messages to Brady: “Not so fast.” Duncan reports that Brady jokingly cursed his mentor after being outplayed.

It’s a great story, and perfectly in-character for Payton. The Saints head coach is fiercely competitive, which is reflected in anecdotes like these as well as his habit of going for a conversion on fourth down — or chasing two points after a touchdown instead of settling for the extra-point kick.

Fortunately, there’s no bad blood between Payton and Stevens. He knows this is how the game gets played in undrafted free agency, and sometimes it takes a little aggression to seal the deal.

Payton told Duncan, “I said, honestly, I was having some fun. You had given your word and I respect that. But we weren’t going to lose you. You were going to become a Saint.”

While Stevens doesn’t figure to join the active roster on many gamedays this year, it feels like his name should be written on opening-day rosters in ink rather than pencil. Between the salary the Saints were ready to guarantee and the draft capital given up to acquire him, Stevens should be the next-man-up if Hill can’t run as many routes or throw as many blocks.

And if things go according to plan, the rookie might end up catching some passes from Hill himself a year or two down the road.

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