The New Orleans Saints are down to a 36-day wait until the opening kickoff of the 2025 regular season. New Orleans will host the Arizona Cardinals to open their season, doing so under new head coach Kellen Moore as they head into their 59th NFL season. Defensive back Rico Payton wears No. 36 for the team at the moment. He’s also our Saints Player of the Day, bearing a better look at his background and career.

Name (age): Rico Payton III (25)

Hometown: Sappington, Mo.

Height, weight: 6-feet, 182 pounds

College: Pittsburg State Gorillas

Relative Athletic Score: 8.36

Drafted: Undrafted in 2024 (Saints)

2025 salary cap hit: $965,000

An all-state performer at Lindberg High School in Missouri, Payton would commit to Southern Illinois University. After redshirting in 2018, he’d transfer to Division II FCS Pittsburg State in Kansas the following year. With each passing year for the Gorillas, Payton became a bigger defensive factor. He was a full-time starter by 2022, finishing as a 2nd Team All-Mid-America Athletics Association selection. He was 1st Team all-conference and 2nd Team Division II All-American in 2023, a year that saw him with 4 interceptions and 16 passes broken up.

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Despite not being selected in the 2024 NFL draft, Payton impressed during the preseason and would make the Saints 53-man roster. He’d appear in 16 contests as a rookie, though only playing a total of 21 defensive snaps. Most of Payton’s activity was on special teams, where he covered kicks and punts extremely effectively. Heading into 2025, Payton is firmly in the mix for more snaps at corner. The Saints lost corners Marshon Lattimore, Paulson Adebo, and Shemar Jean-Charles off last year’s squad. Rico Payton will be in competition with fourth round rookie Quincy Riley, seven-year veteran journeyman Isaac Yiadom, and fellow undrafted corners Rezjohn Wright and Dalys Beanum for cornerback spots behind Kool-Aid McKinstry and Alontae Taylor.

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Countdown to Kickoff: Rico Payton is the Saints Player of Day 36