Source – Saints to sign DE Carl Granderson to $52M extension

The New Orleans Saints are signing defensive end Carl Granderson to a four-year, $52 million contract extension that includes $35.3 million in guarantees, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Saturday.

Granderson’s $35.3 million guarantee is the most by an undrafted defensive lineman in the 20 years that contract data has been tracked, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. The guarantee is the fourth most by any undrafted player, with former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo leading the way at $55 million.

Granderson’s deal is a major leap from his current deal, a two-year contract worth $5.2 million with just $240,000 guaranteed.

Granderson was a rotational defensive lineman from 2019 to 2022 before he won the starting job over Payton Turner in training camp this season. Granderson has started two games in 2023, collecting 2.5 sacks, five total tackles, seven pressures and a forced fumble for the 2-0 Saints. His seven pressures are more than halfway to his 2022 total of 13.

He has played in 56 games with nine starts and has four career forced fumbles and 17 sacks (5.5 in 2022).

Granderson, 27, signed with the Saints as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2019 but did not join the team until after training camp that year while serving time in jail.

He was sentenced to six months in jail in July 2019 after pleading no contest to one count of sexual battery and unlawful contact. Granderson was accused of inappropriately touching two women while they slept at his apartment while he was at the University of Wyoming in 2018. He originally agreed to a plea deal that would have put him on probation, but it was rejected by the judge presiding over the case.

Granderson was released from jail in August 2019 after a different judge found that the sentencing judge improperly called Granderson’s therapist before handing down the sentence.

This will be the second major contract extension the Saints have finalized this month. The Saints gave guard Cesar Ruiz a four-year extension worth up to $46 million on Sept. 9 and signed defensive end Cameron Jordan to a contract extension in August.