The New Orleans Saints signed former Wyoming defensive end Carl Granderson after the 2019 NFL Draft, guaranteeing him $70,000 and a $15,000 signing bonus — high numbers for an undrafted free agent. Granderson’s signing and contract details were first reported by Rod Walker of the Advocate and confirmed by Josh Katzenstein of the Times-Picayune.
Granderson was projected to be a mid-round draft pick and was considered Wyoming’s top prospect, but ended up not being selected. That could be due to his looming jury trial on one count of third-degree sexual assault and one count of sexual battery against two alleged victims. Davis Potter of the Casper Star-Tribune reported that Granderson was arraigned on April 12 and has a trial scheduled for July 15; Granderson pleaded not guilty to both counts.
Character and background checks are things the Saints have taken very seriously, especially since college scouting director Jeff Ireland was hired in 2015. It’s a point he emphasized during a pre-draft interview on WWL, saying, “We’ve come up with a philosophical system in place and really, look, if a guy doesn’t fit, we get him off the board. If a guy’s got character (issues) and we don’t like it, we get him off the board. We don’t muddy the water. We really try to nail the character.”
Either the Saints don’t put any credence in these allegations against Granderson, or they’re willing to overlook them. It’s possible that they were previously unaware of the incident, but they met with Granderson privately at both the Senior Bowl and the NFL Scouting Combine. Surely it came up in one of those meetings.
Wyoming coach Craig Bohl issued a statement in February, when the allegations were first made, that said: “The sexual assault charges recently filed against Carl Granderson are serious, and the allegations are troubling. I want to assure the people of Wyoming that we hold our young men to the highest of standards, and this alleged behavior is unacceptable.”
This is a developing situation, and we might not hear anything from Granderson or the Saints until his trial.
