Cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles has left the New Orleans Saints as a free agent. The Seattle Seahawks have signed Jean-Charles to a contract, according to Saturday reports.
This news was first broken by Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. Terms of Jean-Charles' new deal with the Seahawks are not immediately available. Jean-Charles, 27, is the third defensive back to depart New Orleans as a free agent this offseason, joining Paulson Adebo and Will Harris.
A fifth-round choice in the 2021 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers out of Appalachian State, Jean-Charles had his first career interception while with the Saints last season. He played for the Packers for the first two years of his career.
After being released by Green Bay during the 2023 preseason, Jean-Charles was signed by the San Francisco 49ers. He'd spend a large portion of early that year on San Francisco's practice squad but appeared in five games before his release.
New Orleans picked up Jean-Charles off waivers midway through the 2023 season. He would appear in nine games, seeing mostly special teams action. The Saints signed him to a futures contract after the year.
Despite a strong preseason, Jean-Charles was among the Saints final training camp cuts. He was immediately re-signed to the practice squad and was promoted to the active roster for the remainder of the season in Week 9.
Jean-Charles played a career-best 143 defensive snaps for the Saints during the 2024-25 season. He had one interception, broke up two passes, allowed 58.3% completion percentage when targeted, and recorded 14 total tackles.
Shemar Jean-Charles was coming off the best of his four NFL seasons and was a key depth piece for the Saints secondary and special teams. New Orleans has added cornerback Isaac Yiadom and safety Justin Reid to their defensive backfield during free agency to offset some of the loss of Adebo, Harris, and Jean-Charles.
