By Ross Jackson
Reunions have continued to be a throughline for the New Orleans Saints this offseason. Not only when it comes to signing players that once suited up in black and gold, but also for Louisiana-natives. For offensive lineman Will Clapp, both are true and his return to his hometown of New Orleans couldn’t have been an easier decision.
The Brother Martin alum joined Matt Moscona on 104.5 ESPN Baton Rouge’s After Further Review Monday afternoon and discussed his return to the city, reuniting with head coach Kellen Moore (with whom he worked in 2023 while members of the Los Angeles Chargers) and why the Saints’ offer was all he needed to hear.
“No, it was definitely just like, ‘Hey, let’s get this done,’” Clapp told Moscona about the notion of seeking additional offers after hearing from the Saints. “I was excited to be home. Had a fun year in Buffalo, but my family didn’t travel with me last year. I was like, ‘(I) get to stay home, be with my kids.’ I mean, everything about it just lined up to be perfect. (I) love the staff that’s going to be in New Orleans. There was like no other option for me at that point when they told me they were interested.”
For Clapp, the choice was obvious. He grew up in New Orleans, played college football with the LSU Tigers and was a seventh-round draft pick by the Saints in 2018. A chance to not only reunite with his hometown team, but with new head coach Kellen Moore was enough to make him close up his market and take the offer. Clapp spoke highly of Moore and his system.
“It’s by far my favorite offense I’ve ever played in,” he said. “And I’m not just saying that because of my time there, but it truly is my favorite offense I’ve played in through college or pros. Everything is fast, to the point, everything has a meaning. It isn’t crazy wordy. Everything that he puts in his offense is to the point. We just had a bunch of fun under him. That was my main memory of playing under him with the Chargers and I’m excited to get back to it.”
He also complimented Moore for being an impactful leader through one specific element where Clapp felt the coach excelled.
“I think most of it is just being an effective communicator, which he is,” Clapp said of Moore. “He’s very good at laying out bullet points to everyone like, ‘Hey, these are the expectations of the gameplan. This is what we’re going to do.’ The game that we didn’t have great games, nothing went unaddressed. It was like, ‘Hey, this is why we didn’t perform to our standard. X, Y and Z is the reason, and here’s how we’re going to fix it.’And when you lay those things out to players, it really sets a clear and defined picture of how we’re going to go about this.”
Moore isn’t the only new Saints staff member that Clapp has experience playing under. Saints defensive coordinator Brandon Staley was Clapp’s head coach during both of his seasons in Los Angeles. While the lineman was on the roster as a backup center, he took scouting team reps in Staley’s defense and said that he learned a lot because of the way the defensive-minded coach communicated.
“Just hearing how he communicates with the defense, he sees the game at such a high level,” he said. “And it’s kind of crazy how he talks about mixing and disguising coverages and blitzes. I actually felt like I learned a lot of stuff from him just about how defenses think when you stand by him on the field.”
