One more former Kansas football player will get a chance at an NFL roster spot as the preseason begins in earnest.
Longtime KU tight end Mason Fairchild has signed with the New Orleans Saints, the team announced Saturday morning.
The Andale native, who caught 82 passes for 1,111 yards over the course of his five-year collegiate career in Lawrence, had previously attended Buffalo Bills minicamp after going undrafted in the spring. He will now get a chance to carve out his place in the NFL, and he should be able to debut soon, as the Saints travel to face the Arizona Cardinals in their preseason opener on Aug. 10 at 7 p.m.
The Saints have a fairly deep group of tight ends, but it has recently experienced some turnover. The presumptive starter Juwan Johnson has been dealing with a foot injury that reportedly required surgery. New Orleans waived Tommy Hudson on Thursday and he reverted to their injured reserve; the Saints have also released Jesper Horsted.
However, veteran tight end Kevin Rader (best known for several seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and most recently with the Tennessee Titans) has signed alongside Fairchild. And the roster also features another undrafted tight end, Dallin Holker from Colorado State, along with veteran Foster Moreau and former basketball player Michael Jacobson. Taysom Hill is a hybrid player who fills multiple roles for New Orleans.
Fairchild now becomes the seventh rookie out of KU vying for a roster or practice-squad spot in this year’s NFL training camps, along with Jason Bean, Austin Booker, Kenny Logan Jr., Mike Novitsky, Dominick Puni and Craig Young. Other former Jayhawks on rosters include Hakeem Adeniji, Dorance Armstrong Jr., Earl Bostick Jr., Kyron Johnson, Kwamie Lassiter II and Steven Sims Jr.
Booker and Sims made their preseason debuts in Thursday’s Hall of Fame Game.
AP Photo/Mitch Alcala
