Source – Saints sign DE Carl Granderson to $52M extension

Granderson’s $35.3 million guarantee is the most offered by an undrafted defensive lineman in 20 years, according to contract data tracked, according to ESPN Stats & Information. The guarantee is the fourth-largest of any undrafted player, with former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo leading the way at $55 million.

Granderson’s deal represents a big jump from his current deal, a two-year, $5.2 million contract with just $240,000 guaranteed.

Granderson was a rotational outfielder from 2019-2022 before winning the starting job over Payton Turner in training camp this season. Granderson started two games in 2023, with 2.5 sacks, five total tackles, seven pressures and a forced fumble for the 2-0 Saints. His seven pressures are more than halfway to a total of 13 pressures in 2022.

He has played in 56 games with nine starts and has four forced fumbles in his career and 17 sacks (5.5 in 2022).

Granderson, 27, signed with the Saints as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2019 but didn’t join the team until after training camp that year while serving time in prison.

He was sentenced to six months in prison in July 2019 after pleading no contest to one count of sexual assault and unlawful contact. Granderson was accused of inappropriately touching two women while they slept in his apartment while he was at the University of Wyoming in 2018. He originally agreed to a plea deal that would have put him on probation, but the presiding judge rejected that. issue.

Granderson was released from prison in August 2019 after a new judge found that the sentencing judge improperly contacted Granderson’s therapist before issuing the sentence.

This is the second major contract extension the Saints finalized this month. The Saints gave guard Cesar Ruiz a four-year extension worth up to $46 million on September 9 and signed defensive end Cameron Jordan to a contract extension in August.