Saints Tried Out 11 Players

Aaron Wilson reports that the Saints brought in 11 free agents for workouts on Tuesday, including RB Cameron Artis-Payne, TE Luke Willson, and RB Zach Zenner.

The full list of tryouts includes:

1. RB Cameron Artis-Payne
2. LB James Burgess
3. LB Tre’ Crawford
4. RB Darius Jackson
5. TE Ben Koyack
6. RB Marcus Murphy
7. TE Brian Parker
8. LB Tegray Scales
9. RB Tre Watson
10. TE Luke Willson
11. RB Zach Zenner

Artis-Payne, 28, is a former fifth-round pick of the Panthers back in 2015. He played out the final year of his four-year rookie contract and tested the open market as an unrestricted free agent before re-signing with Carolina back in March. 

He was among the Panthers’ final roster cuts coming out of the preseason. 

In 2018, Artis-Payne appeared in nine games for the Panthers and rushed for 69 yards on 19 carries (3.6 YPC) to go along with three receptions for 15 yards receiving and one touchdown.

Willson, 29, is a former fifth-round pick of the Seahawks back in 2013. He played out the final year of his four-year, $2,338,532 rookie contract with the Seahawks and re-signed to a one-year contract in 2017. 

The Lions elected to sign Willson to a one-year contract worth $2.5 million for the 2018 season and signed a one-year deal with the Raiders this offseason. He was among Oakland’s final roster cuts coming out of the preseason. 

In 2018, Willson appeared in 14 games for the Lions and caught 13 passes for 87 yards receiving and no touchdowns. Pro Football Focus rated him as the No. 57 tight end out of 70 qualifying players

Zenner, 27, signed on with the Lions as an undrafted free agent out of South Dakota State back in 2015. He played out the final year of his three-year, $1.58 million contract but the Lions declined to tender him an offer as a restricted free agent and tested the market last year. 

Detroit re-signed Zenner, but was placed on injured reserve coming out of the preseason with a back injury. The Lions would later waive him with an injury settlement only to re-sign him in November of last year. 

Zenner returned to the Lions this past March but was cut loose last week. 

In 2018, Zenner appeared in eight games for the Lions and rushed for 265 yards on 55 carries (4.8 YPC) to go along with seven receptions for 56 yards receiving and three total touchdowns.