Saints 2025 Year in Review: Ugo Amadi overlooked in new secondary
Ugo Amadi remains a free agent after contributing little for the Saints in 2025. New additions and a scheme change pushed him down the depth chart.
For the last few seasons heading into 2025, defensive back Ugo Amadi had been a key contributor in the New Orleans Saints secondary. Listed as a safety, Amadi had also been used as a slot corner and inside the tackle box. The versatile Amadi was expected to continue to be a contributor even as the Saints transitioned to a new defense under coordinator Brandon Staley.
New Orleans had almost an entirely new secondary entering 2026. Starters Marshon Lattimore, Paulson Adebo, Tyrann Mathieu, and Will Harris were all gone, leaving the door open for new contributors. As one of the few returning defensive backs, it was expected that Amadi would at least be in the mix for playing time.
Ugo Amadi Year in Review Position: Safety Age: 28 Height: 5-feet, 9 inches Weight: 201 pounds NFL experience: 7 years (3 with Saints) 2025 season: 7 games Amadi came to New Orleans in 2023 as a free agent. Over his first two seasons with the team he'd appear in 28 games as a slot corner and safety. In 2024, Amadi had 527 defensive snaps in various roles and had re-signed with the team last offseason on a one-year contract.
Amadi made the active roster coming out of preseason, but his contributions were not what they'd been in past seasons. In the regular season opener against Arizona, Amadi got 18 snaps on special teams but none on defense. That would be the theme for most of the 2025 campaign.