NEW ORLEANS,LA. – Friday, the New Orleans Saints announced that the team is signing veteran defensive lineman, Margus Hunt, to a one-year deal.
Hunt was drafted in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals out of Southern Methodist.
In seven seasons for Cincinnati and Indianapolis, he appeared in 91 regular-season games with 25 starts, recording career totals of 101 tackles, 7.5 sacks, seven passes defended, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and four special teams stops.
Hunt has played in four postseason games with two starts, posting six tackles and one split sack.
Hunt played in all 16 games with five starts for Indianapolis in 2019, making 17 tackles (14 solo). In 2018, he opened all 15 regular season games he played in and posted 22 tackles, a career-high five sacks, two passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery, chipping in four more stops in two postseason starts.
A 31-year-old native of Karksi-Nuia, Estonia, Hunt attended Southern Methodist University where he finished his collegiate career as the NCAA’s all-time leader in blocked field goals (10) and ranked second in blocked kicks. He opened 27-of-53 games at SMU, compiling 112 tackles (60 solo), 28.0 tackles for loss, 16.5 sacks, seven passes defended, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.
Margus spoke with the New Orleans media for the first time Monday to talk about his decision to sign with the New Orleans Saints and what he brings to the team.
“Statistically, last year wasn’t my greatest. I feel like I left a lot of plays out there and was just always one second behind but I was always in the mix. My biggest thing right now is to make sure that I keep finishing plays, keep getting to the ball and do all the right things to be in the play and be a factor,” says Hunt.
During the free agency process, Margus says he spoke with former college teammate Zach Line about signing with the Saints.
“First thing I did was reach out to Zach Line and he told me so many positive things about the organization and the locker room. He told me basically if this is serious by all means take it because you don’t want to miss out on this opportunity.”
“For me right now with being married and having 2 kids, he just said that the Saints are very family-oriented and they make a huge deal about family. Another thing was the locker room. They are all great guys, all-pros, they do the right things and they work hard and practice hard and critique each other hard. They work every day o get to that title and that was one of the big ones,” added Hunt.
He is now the fourth SMU player on the Saints roster.
Statistics Courtesy of Press Release from The New Orleans Saints
