NFL Free Agency: Johnathan Abram to sign with New Orleans Saints

After bouncing around last season between the Las Vegas Raiders (eight games), the Green Bay Packers (two games), and the Seattle Seahawks (five games), Johnathan Abram finally figured out where he’ll be playing football in the NFL next season. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, he’s expected to sign with the New Orleans Saints, pending a physical on Wednesday.

Abram was a first-round selection in the 2019 NFL Draft. The Las Vegas Raiders picked him with the No. 27 overall selection. During his four years in the National Football League, he’s racked up 267 tackles, one fumble recovery, and three interceptions.

Abram’s PFF grades the last few seasons ranked among the worst in the National Football League. In 2022, he ranked 60th out of 64 safeties in the NFL. In 2021, he ranked 55th out of 65. Then, in 2019, he ranked 63rd out of 63–dead last. He did rack up 116 tackles during the 2021 season. While Abram had a highly decorated career at Mississippi State–things just simply have not worked out for him at the NFL level. We’ll see if joining a new team can spark a turnaround in his career.

Abram had a highly decorated career with Mississippi State

During his final two seasons in Starkville, he racked up 170 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, five sacks, three forced fumbles, and two interceptions. Abram earned All-America honors (second and third team honors) from multiple publications his senior year at Mississippi State. That year, he led the team and ranked eighth in the SEC in tackles with 99. The hard-hitting safety ranked first in the SEC and third in the nation among safeties with five quarterback hits. He also notched eight tackles in eight different games during his senior season in 2018.

More on the 2023 NFL offseason, free agency

The NFL 2023 calendar year is set to begin at 4 p.m. ET on March 15 when contracts running through 2022 will officially run out, making those players free agents. Prior to the beginning of free agency, teams will have a chance to designate one franchise or transition tag player, starting on Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. ET and ending on March 7. Beginning March 13 through March 15 teams will be allowed a legal negotiation with players who are set to become unrestricted free agents.

In addition to NFL free agency, the new year also marks the beginning of all trades being made official by the league office. April 21 marks the deadline to sign restricted free agents to offer sheets while April 26 marks the deadline for teams to match restricted free agent offers sheets. 722 players are slated to become free agents in 2023.

More on restricted, exclusive rights free agents

Players with only three years of accredited NFL experience become restricted free agents. Their original team will have the option to apply first-round, second-round, original-round, and right-of-fight-of-first-refusal tenders on players at escalating price tags. The higher the round, the more expensive the tender amount; however, if a separate team does offer a contract and the original team does not match that round pick will be conveyed from the new team to the original team. Right of first refusal only gives a team the option to match or not. If they don’t match, they get nothing in return. An original-round tender would send a draft pick from whatever round the player was drafted back to the original team if they chose not to match. The original team will have five days to match once a player signs an offer sheet from a new team.