The New Orleans Saints have a 45-day wait until the 2025 regular season opener against the Arizona Cardinals. New coach Kellen Moore will lead the hopeful improvement from last year’s 5-12 record. One of the team’s returning players is linebacker Nephi Sewell, who currently wears No. 45 for the team. He is our Saints Player of the Day.

Name (age): Nephi Sewell (26)

Hometown: St. George, Utah

Height, weight: 6-feet, 228 pounds

Relative Athletic Score: 7.04

Drafted: Undrafted in 2022 (Saints)

2025 salary cap hit: $1,100,000

The Sewells have a strong professional football bloodline, with Nephi’s brothers Penei and Noah currently in the NFL. His uncle, Kingsley Suamataia is also in the league, with former NFL players Isaac Sopoaga and Richard Brown also uncles. An American Samoan, Nephi had a standout high school career at Desert Hills despite suffering a broken neck as a junior. He initially attended the University of Nevada as a safety in 2017, rolling up 111 total tackles and 2 interceptions in two years with the Wolf Pack. Sewell would transfer to Utah in 2019, where he converted from safety to linebacker. He played only three contests in 2019, with Covid limiting the Utes to five outings in 2020. Sewell worked his way into Utah’s starting lineup in 2021, finishing second on the team in tackles on his way to All-Pac-12 recognition.

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Undrafted in 2022, Sewell was signed by the Saints. He spent most of his rookie year on the practice squad, but did appear in four games on special teams. The following year, Sewell played in 16 of 17 games. Again, most of his reps were on special teams, but he did see some light defensive action. An injury forced Sewell to begin 2024 on the Physically Unable to Perform list. However, he’d suit up in the final seven games of the season. He’d play a career-best 58 defensive snaps and had 2 tackles for loss along with his first career sack.

Nephi Sewell will have a fight on his hands this offseason for a roster spot. The Saints brought in more competition at linebacker behind starters Demario Davis and Pete Werner, along with new defensive coordinator Brandon Staley. Sewell’s experience as a collegiate safety may give him an advantage in coverage packages. He had 5 interceptions in college and moves well in open space, making him a player to watch in Staley’s new system.

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Countdown to Kickoff: Nephi Sewell is the Saints Player of Day 45