Nigel Bradham eager to join the Saints, “a place where it’s known for winning”

Nigel Bradham has played a lot of football. He’s entering his ninth season as a pro, having spent four full years with the Buffalo Bills and another four seasons on the Philadelphia Eagles. But he says the New Orleans Saints offer him something neither of those teams were able to.

“It’s definitely a different type of environment, a different culture. Because the last two organizations I went to weren’t really winning organizations,” Bradham said in his introductory media conference call. “So when you come to a place where it’s known for winning and known for being in the postseason, you see a different type of culture they have and the expectations that they have naturally and what they expect out of you as a player.”

That’s a bold claim to make, sure, but the Saints have backed it up. They’ve won their division three years in a row, whereas the Eagles and Bills combined for two division titles in the eight years he played with them (the Eagles won the NFC East twice, in 2017 and 2019). But Bradham did help the Eagles win Super Bowl LII just a few years ago, lending some skepticism to his thinking here. Maybe he meant that the Saints are further along now than his previous teams were when he joined them.

Bradham has also been on the receiving end of the Saints’ winning culture before. His Bills lost to the Saints 35-17 back in 2013, and his Eagles were trounced twice in 2018 (losing 48-7 in the regular season, and falling 20-14 in the playoffs). He’s probably happier to be dishing out that kind of punishment rather than getting thumped with it.