Nick Fairley, New Orleans Saints agree to new four-year deal
Nick Fairley will be with the New Orleans Saints for the foreseeable future.
The Saints and Fairley agreed to a four-year contract Thursday, according to a source familiar with the deal. Salary figures were not immediately available, but NFL Network reported it's worth almost $30 million.
The 29-year-old defensive tackle, who became an unrestricted free agent last month after his contract automatically voided, was the Saints' best free-agent acquisition of 2016 as he made an instant impact on the interior and finished with the best season of his career. He finished the year with 6.5 sacks, nine tackles for loss and 22 quarterbacks hits.
For Fairley, signing what was effectively a one-year prove-it deal ended up paying off as he had a stellar season with the Saints and earned a big pay day.
For the Saints, locking Fairley in long term helps ensure they have depth at the defensive tackle position. In addition to Fairley, they'll return Tyeler Davision, Sheldon Rankins and David Onyemata, all of whom have experience.
Multiple Saints defensive linemen said they hoped Fairley would return to provide strong interior presence as well as veteran leadership in an otherwise young defensive tackle group. Davison will enter his third year while Rankins and Onyemata will be going into their third.
After the season, Fairley said he "of course" wanted to re-sign with the Saints. However, following such an impressive performance, Fairley's camp wanted to ensure he maximized his market value as an unrestricted free agent.
A Mobile, Ala., native, Fairley grew up a Saints fan and felt comfortable in New Orleans during a trying year that included the birth of his first child as well as the death of his mother.
The Lions drafted Fairley in the first round in 2011, and after his four years there, he spent one season with the Rams before joining the Saints in 2016.