Nick Easton is now off the table for the Minnesota Vikings as a potential starting option on the offensive line. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the former Vikings guard is signing a four-year, $24 million deal to join the New Orleans Saints. With Max Unger retiring, it opens the door for Easton to start as the Saints' center, a position that he had some experience playing in Minnesota. He is the second of the Vikings free agents to sign with the Saints, joining running back Latavius Murray. With Easton's decision, the Vikings now have only one guard under contract for the 2019 season with Danny Isidora, who is heading into his third year with only 361 career snaps played. The Vikings had been open about their interest in bringing Easton back for 2019 and beyond and did submit a contract offer, but they likely weren't willing to offer $6 million per year on average like the Saints were able to. General manager Rick Spielman addressed what they believe Easton brings to the table as a player, even coming off of a season-ending neck injury in training camp last year. "One of Nick’s traits is he’s a good athlete. He’s tenacious as a football player," Spielman said. "He’s coming off a pretty significant injury. I won’t talk about where he is medically. But his physical traits that we look for fit very well from a schematic standpoint than maybe some of the other people that we looked at in free agency. Where you make your mistakes, and where I’ve made mistakes is sometimes forcing something that may be a name player, but making sure that if you’re going to ask him to do outside zone blocking and he’s a gap scheme-guy and better going [forward] than [to the side], he’s going to fail doing this, but if he goes into another scheme that’s going straight ahead, that’s probably where he’s going to have his most success and have his best chance to play to his contract." He joined the team as an undrafted free agent in 2016 out of Harvard and has shared time at both guard and center. He started five games in 2016 as a reserve with the team and became a full-time starter in 2017, when he held down the fort at left guard prior to his injury. (There are still Super Bowl aspirations in Minnesota despite missing the playoffs in 2018, leading to a key offseason of decisions and moves --Don't miss any of the action! Sign up for our FREE Vikings newsletter here!) The offseason is in full swing as NFL teams work to build for the 2019 season and beyond with free agency open and players flying off the board. The 2019 NFL Draft kicks off from Nashville, Tennessee on April 25, 2019, and runs through April 27, 2019. The first round will be held on Thursday night, followed by the second and third round on Friday night and will conclude with rounds four through seven on Saturday.<doc-sep>The free agent offensive lineman has reportedly decided not to return to the Minnesota Vikings and he will instead play for the New Orleans Saints in 2019. Offensive line depth was already a big question mark heading into the 2019 offseason for the Minnesota Vikings. And thanks some recent news, the depth of the position group for the Vikings just took another step backwards. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Sunday, free agent guard Nick Easton has decided to not re-sign with Minnesota after agreeing to a new deal with the New Orleans Saints. Easton was able to land a four-year contract worth up to $24 million. Schefter also added that the Saints plan to use their newest free agent signing at center for the 2019 season. He didn’t step on the field for the Vikings last season due to a neck injury he suffered in August. But Easton did start in a total of 17 games at both guard and center for Minnesota since 2016. With Easton’s departure, the Vikings’ only player under contract who is listed as a guard on their roster now is Danny Isidora. Other current members of Minnesota’s offensive line could be shuffled around before next season, but their guard depth definitely took a hit with Easton deciding to sign with New Orleans on Sunday. Most assumed that the 26-year-old interior blocker would just remain with the Vikings for 2019, especially after missing all of last season with an injury. But the Saints clearly gave Easton an offer that he couldn’t pass up. For a position group that is arguably the weakest on their team, Minnesota now has even more work to do when it comes to improving their offensive line this year. Still with very little salary cap space (around $2 million), the Vikings best strategy now may just be to load up on young blockers in the upcoming 2019 NFL Draft.<doc-sep>
METAIRIE, La. -- The New Orleans Saints have a new leading contender for their starting center vacancy. The Saints agreed to a four-year, $24 million contract with former Minnesota Vikings guard/center Nick Easton, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter. The agreement comes one day after news broke that the Saints' Pro Bowl center Max Unger is retiring, and the Saints plan to play Easton at center, according to the source. Easton, 26, missed all of last season because of surgery to repair a herniated disk in his neck. But he started a total of 17 games at both guard and center for the Vikings in 2016 and 2017. Unger said in a conference call Monday that health was a big reason for his decision to retire after he had been dealing with a long-term lower body injury. "I didn't think I could make it through another season," said the 10-year veteran, who said his doctor recommended a surgery that would have sidelined him for most of the offseason. Unger made the Pro Bowl this past season but didn't think he was still playing up to his standard, which he said is a "tough pill to swallow." And he said he knew from experience that his performance was affected in 2017 when he missed most of the summer because of foot surgery. Unger said he made his decision in the last month or so and let the Saints know in plenty of time before the start of free agency. Easton, who is 6-foot-3, 303-pounds, began his career as a popular undrafted center out of Harvard in 2015. He originally signed with the Baltimore Ravens, then was traded to the San Francisco 49ers that September and traded to the Vikings that October. In New Orleans, he will have to compete with third-year undrafted center Cameron Tom, among others, for the starting gig. The Saints have one of the top offensive lines in football. But Unger will be hard to replace after starting 67 of 68 games over the past four years, including the playoffs and serving as a captain.