Saints take free-agent swing on former first-rounder

The Saints aren’t done making moves on offense. After adding a pair of pass-catchers earlier Thursday, the team has now added an offensive lineman. New Orleans announced that they have signed veteran offensive lineman Billy Price.

Price was a first-round pick by the Bengals back in 2018. The lineman missed a chunk of his rookie season due to a foot injury, but started all 10 of his appearances when healthy. After that, he found himself in and out of Cincy’s lineup. Price started 10 of his 16 appearances during the 2019 campaign and he started only one of his 16 games in 2020 (while appearing in a career-low 207 offensive snaps).

The lineman had his fifth-year option declined before getting dealt to the Giants for the 2021 season. He started 15 of his 16 appearances in New York, but still had to settle for a practice squad gig with the Raiders to begin the 2022 campaign. Price eventually caught on with the Cardinals and proceeded to start all 11 of his appearances with his new squad. Pro Football Focus didn’t love his performance in Arizona, though, grading him as the 35th center among 36 qualified players.

While Price failed to grade much higher at his previous stops, he will still provide New Orleans with some experience at the position. Per Jeff Duncan of NOLA.com (via Twitter), the Saints have been hunting around for some reinforcement at center. Erik McCoy has a firm hold of the starting center gig, but the lineman has missed nine games over the past two seasons. If McCoy goes down again (and if the team hopes to keep Cesar Ruiz permanently at guard), then they would have been looking at UDFA Alex Pihlstrom as their only option at center.

Earlier Thursday, the team also added Keke Coutee and Lynn Bowden to their squad. The Saints additionally cut wideout Malik Flowers, running back SaRodorick Thompson and offensive lineman Yasir Durant.