Saints Super Bowl Aspirations led RB Dwayne Washington to Re-sign

Coming back to something special, reverberated from Dwayne Washington’s media conference call. The free-agency attraction to the New Orleans Saints this offseason has been a pleasant surprise. Especially since the past three years the Saints have experienced huge letdowns in the postseason. Three seasons with teams on the verge of contending for a Super Bowl title, only to experience playoff failures with a missed tackle, questionable officiating, and a lifeless home performance.

On Thursday, Dwayne Washington uttered, there is “something special” about this team. Saints free agent signees echoed about this special feeling on several media calls this offseason. DE Noah Spence and DB Deatrick Nichols mentioned the Saints culture persuaded them to re-sign and sign respectively with New Orleans while other NFL squads were in pursuit.

“Something about this squad, that made me want to come back for this one year and hoping to take it all the way.” It’s a special program, it’s something that I would like to be a part of… basically,..come back and be a part of a Super Bowl team..." Dwayne Washington

Dwayne Washington returns for his third season in the Black and Gold. He remains buried on the running backs depth chart behind RBs Alvin Kamara and Latavius Murray. However, Washington has found a niche on special teams. Washington said he “takes pride in special teams.” New Orleans has an affinity to running backs who can take the lead on special teams. Longtime RB Fred McAfee was a special teams standout for the Saints and other teams from 1991 to 2006 in the NFL. McAfee earned AP All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors in 2002 as a Saints special teams player. McAfee now serves as the Director of Player Development at the New Orleans Saints since 2007. It appears Dwayne Washington is fitting the mold as McAfee once did in New Orleans.

Washington had two solid games as a New Orleans Saints running back in 2018. He gained 47 yards on 11 rushes versus the Cincinnati Bengals and 108 yards on 11 rushes against the Carolina Panthers in the team’s regular season finale. Washington has 220 total yards with an outstanding 6.1 yards/rush average as a Saints running back. He excels at tackling and blocking on kick-off coverage. The Saints credit Washington with six tackles, a tipped punt, and a punt recovery on special teams. You can sense his pride when he talks about contributing on special teams for Return Specialist Deonte Harris’ AP All-Pro and Pro-Bowl year in 2019.

“When you have someone as great as Deonte Harris, why not give your full effort?” Dwayne Washington

Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis announced the team re-signed Washington to a one-year contract. The club did not disclose the financial terms of Washington’s deal. According to Spotrac, Washington earned $518,824 and $720,000 with the Saints in 2018 and 2019, respectively. The Lakewood Forest, California native is living and training in the state during the current COVID-19 pandemic.