Nick Underhill has been told that free agent DT Nick Fairley wants to continue his NFL career, despite the heart condition that led to him missing the entire 2017 season.
Underhill adds that Fairley almost certainly won’t be back with the Saints if he ends up resuming his career.
New Orleans elected to release Fairley a few weeks ago with non-football illness designation and he’s currently a street free agent.
Teams are going to have obvious questions about his health moving forward, so we’ll have to see if any team is willing to give him a look this offseason.
Fairley, 30, is a former first-round pick of the Lions back in 2011. He played out his rookie contract in Detroit before signing on a one-year, prove-it deal with the Rams in 2015.
The Saints signed Fairley to another one-year deal in 2016 before they agreed to four-year, $28 million contract that included $14 million guaranteed this last March. However, Fairley was absent from the team’s OTA practices because of heart trouble and opened the season on the non-football injury list.
Releasing Fairley freed up $1 million of available cap space for the Saints.
In 2016, Fairley appeared in all 16 games for the Saints and recorded 43 tackles and 6.5 sacks. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 34 interior defensive lineman out of 127 qualifying players.
We’ll have more regarding Fairley as the news is available.
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