The New Orleans Saints announced Monday that they agreed to terms with punt returner Marcus Sherels, a longtime member of the Minnesota Vikings. Sherels will sign a one-year contract with the Saints per earlier reports.
Sherels has been one of the most dynamic punt returners in the NFL in recent years. In 2018, he recorded 11 punt returns of 10 or more yards; of that group, six went for 20 or more yards, effectively flipping field position. It can’t be understated how big of an improvement this is over what the Saints fielded last year: Alvin Kamara, Tommylee Lewis, and Brandon Tate combined for 10 punt returns of 10 or more yards, and none of them broke out for 20 or more yards.
In other words, Sherels logged 276 punt return yards in 2018. As a team, the Saints gained 157 punt return yards. That’s going to put Drew Brees and the Saints offense in many more favorable scoring positions.
Sherels has limited experience returning kickoffs, so expect Taysom Hill or Kamara to continue shouldering the load in that area — unless the Saints add someone else to the roster. Sherels is listed as a cornerback but he’s played fewer than 100 defensive snaps since the 2014 season; don’t expect him to mix it up with the other defenders much. The coaches will likely want him focusing on getting familiar with the other core special teamers such as Hill, Craig Robertson, Justin Hardee, and Chris Banjo.
