Brandon Staley's defense will have some continuity in the secondary.
The New Orleans Saints aren't wasting any time signing players to their roster. Veteran safety Julian Blackmon inked a one-year deal with New Orleans to return in 2026. The 27-year-old safety will give Brandon Staley stability in the secondary.
Here is the New Orleans press release about the signing of Blackmon:
"New Orleans Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis announced today that the club has signed safety Julian Blackmon to a one-year contract extension," the Saints announced. "Blackmon, 6 feet, 202 pounds, is a six-year NFL veteran who was originally selected in the third round (85th overall) by the Indianapolis Colts out of Utah in the 2020 NFL Draft. In six seasons with the Colts (2020-24) and Saints (2025), the Layton, Utah native has played in 67 regular season games with 63 starts and has recorded career totals of 300 tackles (224 solo), 1.5 sacks, 10 interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown, 22 pass breakups, two forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and seven special teams tackles."
"In one postseason contest in 2020 as a rookie, he started the game for Indianapolis and had five solo stops. In 2025, Blackmon started the season opener for the Black and Gold and recorded seven tackles (four solo) and one pass breakup before being sidelined for the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury. In 2024, Blackmon opened all 16 games he played in for the Colts and recorded 86 tackles (62 solo), a split sack, three interceptions, four pass breakups, and one fumble recovery to tie for the team lead in picks and takeaways (four)."
Blackmon will join Justin Reid and Jonas Sanker at safety. The trio effectively makes the safety position closed for starters in 2026. Which two will start is a different story.
Defensive coordinator Brandon Staley is a big fan of Blackmon. Staley was a big fan of Blackmon while on the Los Angeles Rams staff.
During 2025's training camp, Blackmon made several head-turning plays, and Staley was elated. After an interception in training camp, Staley yelled, “I’ve been waiting 5 years for that.”
The battle for the two safety spots will be interesting. If Alontae Taylor leaves in free agency, then all three could potentially see the field, but ideally, two of them will be on the field with Taylor.
Kudos to the Saints for jumping on the offseason as quickly as possible. They have their guys, and Blackmon is one of them.