The New Orleans Saints made an interesting pickup for their practice squad in signing cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles, per NewOrleans.Football’s Brooke Kirchhofer. Jean-Charles is undersized by the Saints’ standards at a listed 5-foot-10 and 184 pounds, but they’ve been flexible with those thresholds in the secondary after rigidly sticking to a prototype of about 6-foot-1 and 201 pounds for several years.
So what sets Jean-Charles apart? The former Green Bay Packers fifth-round draft pick has appeared in 25 games through the last three years, though he’s played many more snaps on special teams (371) than on defense (43) between his time in Green Bay and, more recently, the San Francisco 49ers. He’s played on five of the six kicking units in his pro career and at Appalachian State in college. He may have gotten on New Orleans’ radar during joint practices with the Packers last summer.
It makes sense for the Saints to add another defensive back with injuries mounting in the secondary. Top corner Marshon Lattimore is on injured reserve for a few more games and other players like free safety Marcus Maye (shoulder) are banged up, too. If Jean-Charles’ path to playing is on special teams, that’s worth looking into as well. You can never have enough corners.
