Latavius Murray signing considered an “underrated” move by the Saints

The Master Ship SB Nation recently published a piece on one underrated move by each of the 32 NFL teams. For the New Orleans Saints, it was the signing of Latavius Murray.

Signed RB Latavius Murray (four years, $14.4 million)

New Orleans saves about $1.4 million annually by rolling with Murray rather than Mark Ingram as the thunder to Alvin Kamara’s lightning in the backfield. The 230-pound former Vikings and Raiders back has scored 26 touchdowns over his last three seasons.

Personally, this was one of the flashier moves of the Saints in 2019 free agency (arguably the second-biggest signing after Jared Cook). That being said, it’s hard to argue we will look back and say the move was “underrated.” If anything, it’s gotten a lot of attention and there are fairly high expectations for Murray in New Orleans this season. I’ve already gone on the record, though, explaining why I think Murray could be an improvement on Mark Ingram.

If I was going to go with an underrated free agent signing, I think the slam dunk answer is different former Minnesota Vikings player, Marcus Sherels. Sherels signed a one-year deal to come to New Orleans for less than $1 million after spending the entirety of his nine year career with the Vikings.

Alvin Kamara led the team in 2018 with 12 punt returns, but averaged only 6.8 yards per return. Sherels averaged 12 yards per return in 2018, and those hidden yards are likely to go vastly underrated as an assist to the New Orleans Saints’ high-powered offense.

Murray will be good, but let’s not forget about Marcus Sherels.