The Saints and Nick Fairley agreed to a four-year contract Thursday, Josh Katzenstein of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.
Salary figures were not immediately available, but NFL Network reported it’s worth almost $30 million.
The 29-year-old defensive tackle, who became an unrestricted free agent last month after his contract automatically voided, was the Saints’ best free-agent acquisition of 2016 as he made an instant impact on the interior and finished with the best season of his career. He finished the year with 6.5 sacks, nine tackles for loss and 22 quarterbacks hits.
For Fairley, signing what was effectively a one-year prove-it deal ended up paying off as he had a stellar season with the Saints and earned a big pay day.