The New Orleans Saints, who know better than most teams how well a former basketball player can transition to the tight end position, signed developmental project Chris Manhertz on Monday.
Manhertz (6-foot-6, 255 pounds) never played football until he signed with the Buffalo Bills in December. The former Canisius College basketball player was with the Bills all offseason before being waived last week.
His transition to the NFL has been even more daunting than it was for former Saints star Jimmy Graham and many others, because Manhertz had to learn everything from scratch, including how to wear a helmet.
But the Saints apparently wanted to see for themselves how much potential might be there. The back end of their tight end group has had a revolving door on it this summer because of injuries, so they’ve tried out a handful of candidates during training camp.
To make room for Manhertz, they released veteran Michael Egnew, who was just signed last week.
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