Saints sign former Patriots second-round pick Joejuan Williams after group tryout

The New Orleans Saints signed former Patriots second-round pick Joejuan Williams after a group tryout, per NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill. The cornerback played college football at Vanderbilt and has lined up almost exclusively out wide in the NFL — on 436 of his 608 career defensive snaps, with 111 of them starting in the slot.

So he’s not exactly the Justin Simmons consolation prize some fans may have hoped for. Instead, look for Williams to compete at the bottom of the depth chart with other corners like Rejzohn Wright, Mac McCain II, and Kaleb Ford-Dement. The Saints are still looking for players to round out their practice squad as guys like Rico Payton and Shemar Jean-Charles separate from the pack. And with injuries hitting three of their top four corners (Marshon Lattimore, Paulson Adebo, and Kool-Aid McKinstry) they need the help just to keep practice on schedule.

As for Williams? He’s listed at 6-foot-3 and 212 pounds and was drafted at No. 45 overall in 2019, the sixth cornerback to be picked. But he played out his four-year contract with the Patriots without intercepting a single pass. He’s since spent time with the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings but has struggled to earn snaps for either team, instead coming up from their practice squad. He needs to impress right away if he’ll catch on with the Saints.