Saints select Virginia DB Sanker in Round 3

By Ross Jackson

METAIRIE, La. — The New Orleans Saints have made their third selection of the NFL Draft’s third day. The Saints went back-to-back on offense and now have gone to consecutive defensive picks to help build out new defensive coordinator Brandon Staley’s new system.

The Saints selected Virginia safety Jonas Sanker with the No. 93 overall selection.

With the 93rd pick in the Draft, the #Saints select:

Virginia Safety Jonas Sanker 💪#SaintsDraft | @CoxComm pic.twitter.com/XoHV8SbRPk

— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) April 26, 2025

Sanker is a highly-athletic and active box safety-type. A solid tackler and very instinctive player. The Virginia safety could immediately stand in as depth behind starting safety Tyrann Mathieu as a potential playmaker near the line of scrimmage.

He totaled 98 combined tackles in 2024, 8.5 were for a loss. He also wrangled a pair of sacks, five passes defended and an interception.

Sanker may start with New Orleans as a special teams contributor, but certainly has the chance to develop into a starter in the Saints’ secondary if his development trends in the right direction.

For now, the Saints’ second night of the draft has concluded with no picks remaining, unless they were to trade back in. On Saturday, they hold five total picks with a pair in the fourth round, one in the sixth and another duo in the seventh. 

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