{"id":238823,"date":"2025-07-26T23:30:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T23:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/238823\/"},"modified":"2025-07-26T23:30:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T23:30:15","slug":"saints-sign-s-julian-blackmon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/238823\/","title":{"rendered":"Saints Sign S Julian Blackmon"},"content":{"rendered":"

JULY 23:\u00a0Blackmon is joining the Saints on a one-year deal worth up to $5.5MM, Rapoport tweets<\/a>. Mathieu had been attached to a one-year, $4MM pact, one reworked via a pay-cut agreement this offseason. Blackmon played out a one-year, $3.7MM Colts contract in 2024. Blackmon\u2019s New Orleans accord is now official.<\/p>\n

JULY 22: Following Tyrann Mathieu<\/a>\u2018s sudden retirement announcement earlier today, the Saints have already found a potential replacement. NFL Network\u2019s Ian Rapoport reports<\/a> that the team is signing veteran safety Julian Blackmon<\/a>. ESPN\u2019s Jeremy Fowler reported earlier this evening<\/a> that New Orleans was working to add Blackmon as a Honey Badger replacement.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>[RELATED: Saints\u2019 Tyrann Mathieu Announces Retirement<\/a>]<\/p>\n

A former third-round pick, Blackmon was a mainstay in Indy\u2019s secondary over the past five seasons. He started 62 of his 66 games with the Colts, collecting 300 tackles and 21 passes defended. He also hauled in 10 interceptions, including seven between the 2023 and 2024 seasons. The safety did deal with his fair share of injuries, including a torn Achilles in 2021 and shoulder issues in both 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n

Despite his starting experience, the safety hasn\u2019t had the best of luck in free agency. Last year, he garnered interest from the Bills and 49ers before ultimately returning to the Colts on a one-year deal. This offseason, it\u2019s been relatively quiet for the 26-year-old other than a March visit with the Panthers.<\/a><\/p>\n

Pro Football Focus wasn\u2019t particularly fond of Blackmon\u2019s first three seasons in the NFL, with the site ranking him as a below-average safety. He improved to 38th among 95 qualifiers in 2023, and he had his best career showing (30th of 98) in 2024. He\u2019s generally graded out well for his coverage prowess, and his ability to play multiple roles (including in the box, in the slot, and out wide) should prove to be an asset for his new squad.<\/p>\n

The Saints were likely scrambling following Mathieu\u2019s sudden decision to hang up his cleats, leading to tonight\u2019s signing. Saints general manager\u00a0Mickey Loomis\u00a0hinted that the organization could make an addition at the position, although he also expressed confidence in the team\u2019s current options at the position. 2023 fifth-rounder Jordan Howden<\/a> is the current favorite to start opposite Justin Reid<\/a>, although Blackmon will join the likes of veterans J.T. Gray<\/a> and Terrell Burgess<\/a> as competition for the starting gig.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JULY 23:\u00a0Blackmon is joining the Saints on a one-year deal worth up to $5.5MM, Rapoport tweets. Mathieu had…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238824,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2076],"tags":[7,6990,896,55,2572,2571,6,397,3571],"class_list":{"0":"post-238823","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-orleans-saints","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-julian-blackmon","10":"tag-new-orleans","11":"tag-new-orleans-saints","12":"tag-neworleans","13":"tag-neworleanssaints","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-saints","16":"tag-transactions"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114922142535740594","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238823\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}