Pro Bowl cornerback Charvarius Ward thought he'd be a Saint: 'The deal was almost done'

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The New Orleans Saints free agency period has been one mostly filled with retaining their own players or bringing in connected players to their new coaching staff, with the exception of Justin Reid and Davon Godchaux. However, they were in on one of the best free-agent cornerbacks early in the process and ultimately got outbid by the Indianapolis Colts for his services.

That cornerback is Charvarius Ward, who would be picked up on a deal by the Colts for three years, worth up to $60 million. Ultimately the Saints would end up grabbing Isaac Yiadom later on, but otherwise, the cornerback group has remained somewhat untouched in terms of additions. With Paulson Adebo on the way out, it is definitely still a need in the coming weeks.

Ward would recently discuss the process of his signing on "The Ride with JMV" podcast, on 93.5 and 107.5 The Fan. On this podcast, he would mention that he expected to go to the Saints initially, but at the end of the day the Colts swooped in and managed to steal him away.

"It actually kind of," Ward began, "I'm not gonna say it kind of surprised me, but originally I thought I was going to New Orleans because the deal was almost done. Then the coach, I guess they realized how great of a player I am, y'know what I'm saying, and they came in and kind of beat out the Saints at the last minute. So it happened pretty fast, like I said I thought I was gonna end up in New Orleans, close to home, I grew up two hours from New Orleans. But it did happen, I'm happy to be with the Colts though, so I'm ready to get going."

The Saints have had a steady flow of Louisiana players coming to the team this offseason, between the aforementioned Reid, to Will Clapp, Davon Godchaux, and others. This has been a consistent theme and is likely a choice to build the culture up through local players, which frankly is a good idea.

Unfortunately the Saints were not able to seal the deal with Ward and he would move on to another team, and at that price tag, good for him, as that is an exceptional contract for a high-quality talent.

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: NFL free agency: Charvarius Ward thought the Saints would sign him

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