Nick Easton: ‘It’s pretty obvious why I chose’ the Saints

Nick Easton realizes he’s in the best possible situation as a member of the New Orleans Saints.

For one thing, the veteran center who signed with the Saints as a free agent Sunday is part of one of the better teams in the NFL. For another, he’s part of one of the top offenses in the league, led by one of the game’s all-time great quarterbacks in Drew Brees. For still another, he’s going to be anchoring one of the NFL’s best offensive lines.

‘Obviously, you have a well-established offense and an unreal quarterback room that they have down there’

What’s not to like?

“On my visit down there, I was just blown away with how knowledgeable and enthusiastic those coaches were,” Easton told Bob Papa and Charlie Weis on The Opening Drive. “And, obviously, you have a well-established offense and an unreal quarterback room that they have down there. It’s just going to be a huge benefit to everybody else on the team and it’s probably one of the most attractive parts about being a Saint.

‘I’m fired up to be a part of it’

“Not to mention one of the most well respected offensive lines in football. It’s pretty obvious why I chose to go down there. And I’m fired up to be a part of it.”

Easton, who landed on injured reserve with the Minnesota Vikings last August after suffering a neck injury in training camp, says his “health is doing great. It’s been a long road to get back healthy and in fighting shape and here I am today.”

‘If you look at a breakdown of my snaps with the Vikings, I was just about 50-50 between guard and center’

Easton entered the NFL in 2015 as an undrafted free agent from Harvard and spent training camp with the Baltimore Ravens before being traded to the San Francisco 49ers. The Niners then shipped him to Minnesota in October, 2015. Easton pretty much evenly split time between center and guard with the Vikings.

“If you look at a breakdown of my snaps with the Vikings, I was just about 50-50 between guard and center because if there was ever an injury at the center position, I would slide over in my time there,” he said. “I actually made my first start as a Viking as a center, so I’ve got pretty good experience at center.”

‘It starts Day One with latching onto all the verbiage, getting used to, even the simple things like snap-count cadence’

How does he see himself transitioning into the Saints’ offense?

“I think it starts Day One with latching onto all the verbiage, getting used to, even the simple things like snap-count cadence, etc.; those things all really help an offense,” Easton said. “So it’s just getting in tune, getting in time with everybody else in the offense, learning how the center position slots in down there and then, obviously, becoming the best I can be at being a part of that well-oiled machine.”