Saints Sign Fullback Alex Armah

The Saints get their first external player of free agency, and it's fullback Alex Armah.

The Saints have signed their first player of free agency, and it's fullback Alex Armah, formerly of the Panthers. As first reported by NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, New Orleans is getting a very versatile player in the offense that has played in all 16 games for the past three seasons. Armah, who is 26, was originally a 6th Round choice of the Panthers in 2017, being selected 192nd overall.

New Orleans has a penchant for using fullbacks in the offense, something a lot of teams don't do these days. Last year, Michael Burton handled the duties, but he is a free agent and doesn't appear to be in the immediate plans with the Armah signing. 

Schuyler Callihan, who covers the Panthers at our sister site, said this about Armah when contemplating whether or not to re-sign him that may give a bit more insight to fans.

Analysis

: The fullback position is often evaluated by a player's ability to pave the way in the running game and hold up in pass protection. Armah has been rock solid in his first four years with the Panthers and has helped the likes of Christian McCaffrey (2019) and Mike Davis (2020) have career years. He's not going to get a lot of touches but when he does, he oftentimes gets the job done. Armah has been a big part of the Panthers' short-yardage packages and really did a good job of cleaning things up from the offensive line breaking down.

Good fullbacks are hard to come by and when you look around the free-agent market, you are not going to find many options better than Armah. Kyle Juszczyk is expected to re-sign with the 49ers and Anthony Sherman is expected to take less money to remain with the Chiefs. Alex Armah is not the biggest piece of the puzzle that the Panthers need to keep ahold of but his value to the offense is much higher than one would think. If I'm Scott Fitterer, I would sign him to a very cheap, two-year deal.

Be sure to keep up with all of the Saints moves and rumors for free agency with our tracker.