Pittsburg State Cornerback In Town For Official Top-30 Visit With New Orleans Saints

The Saints are bringing in Pittsburg State cornerback Rico Payton in for a Top-30 visit.
Rico Payton makes a tackle.
Rico Payton makes a tackle. / Pittsburg State University
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Saints News Network has learned about another Top-30 visit. According to a source, Pittsburg State cornerback Rico Payton was in New Orleans on Thursday and visited the facility on Friday. Not to be confused, but this Pittsburg is in Kansas. Pittsburg State is a Division II school that's a part of the MIAA (Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association).

Rico Payton was a transfer from Southern Illinois University. He appeared in 13 games for the Gorillas in 2023 and finished with 16 pass breakups, 4 interceptions and 35 total tackles (23 solo, 12 assisted) with 5 tackles for loss. He was All-MIAA in his junior (second team) and senior (first team) seasons and was a team captain last year. He was also a finalist for the Cliff Harris Award and named to the Don Hansen All-America team.

New Orleans Saints Top-30, Pre-Draft Visits and Workout Tracker

Eight teams, the Chiefs, Colts, Jaguars, 49ers, Packers, Vikings, Patriots and Falcons reportedly attended Pitt State Pro Day back in mid-March. New Orleans certainly likes small school prospects, so this is on-brand. Payton also had an official Top-30 visit with an unnamed AFC team.


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John Hendrix
JOHN HENDRIX

I officially started covering the New Orleans Saints & other NFL topics in 2011. My work has been featured on various outlets over the years. I worked closely with Skyhorse Publishing in Fall 2018 to update the book, Tales From the New Orleans Saints Sidelines, which filled in all Saints material from the 2013-2017 seasons. Prior to joining Saints News Network, I served as the Managing Editor of SB Nation's Canal Street Chronicles for 3.5 years, and before that with FanSided's Who Dat Dish as the Managing Editor for several years. I have also had experiences of being a freelance Saints reporter for The Sun Herald in Biloxi, MS and a contributing writer for WDSU, a local NBC TV station in New Orleans. I have appeared on a vast amount of TV and Radio shows, both nationally and locally. For tips, comments, or suggestions, please contact me at johnhendrix@saintsnews.net