New Orleans Saints History: Saints Sign Darren Sharper

After getting rid of defensive coordinator Gary Gibbs and replacing him with Gregg Williams during the 2009 off-season, the Saints were focused heavily on improving their mediocre defense to match their No. 1 ranked offense.

Five years ago to the day, on March 24th, 2009, the Saints signed free agent safety Darren Sharper from the Minnesota Vikings to a one-year deal. At the time, the 33-year-old free safety had the most career interceptions among all active players, something the Saints were hoping their new "quarterback of the defense" would bring to New Orleans. It would turn out to be arguably one of the best free agent signings in Saints history.

As we all know well the Saints went on to win the Super Bowl that season with the help of Sharper's 9 interceptions for a career-high 376 yards and three touchdowns, on his way to a record-breaking, first team All-Pro season.

Sharper would play just eight games the following season before retiring.

We'll just end our story there...