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As of today, 95 days remain until the New Orleans Saints kick off their 2026 season. New Orleans will hit the road to start their year, traveling to take on the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Sept. 13. Defensive tackle John Ridgeway III wears No. 95 as the team sits a little more than a month away from the start of training camp.
Ridgeway is looking for his third season in New Orleans. Our Saints Player of the Day, we take a look at Ridgeway's career to date as part of out Countdown to Kickoff series.
At Bloomington High School in Illinois, Ridgeway was an all-state performer in both football and wrestling as well as a star in the shot put and discus. From there, he'd initially attend Illinois State and starred for three years. Ridgeway was a 1st Team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference selection in 2020. After that season, he'd transfer to Arkansas. In his only year with the Razorbacks, Ridgeway had 2 sacks and 4 tackles for loss among his 39 total stops.
The Dallas Cowboys selected Ridgeway in Round 5 of the 2022 NFL Draft. Dallas released him one week into the regular season, when Washington swooped him to sign him off waivers. Ridgeway would appear in 32 games for Washington over the next two seasons, starting six contests and playing 31% of the defensive snaps. He'd have a total of 55 tackles, with none for negative yardage and no sacks but one forced fumble.
During training camp in 2024, the Saints acquired Ridgeway in a trade. New Orleans dealt a sixth round choice in the 2025 draft in exchange for Ridgeway and a Round 7 pick in this year's draft. Ultimately, Washington would deal that Round 6 pick back to New Orleans as part of mid-2024 trade for Marshon Lattimore. Also included in that trade was New Orleans trading a fifth round pick to Washington and receiving Washington's Round 3 and Round 4 choices back in return. With those draft picks, the Saints chose Virginia safety Jonas Sanker in the third round, Louisville cornerback Quincy Riley in the fourth.
Ridgeway played in 13 games for the Saints during 2024, but only appeared in 28% (264) of the defensive snaps. He managed 15 total tackles, including his first career tackle for negative yardage. In 2025, Ridgeway was placed on injured reserve at the conclusion of training camp. He'd return to play four games during the year and wound hit free agency at the conclusion of the season. However, the Saints and defensive coordinator saw enough in Ridgeway to re-sign him to a two-year deal worth around $6.2 million in base salary with $1.65 million guaranteed.
John Ridgeway III isn't guaranteed a spot on this year's roster. Especially with the offseason addition of second round draft pick Christen Miller and three undrafted rookie defensive tackles. But the fact that New Orleans valued him highly enough to quickly re-sign him in free agency may give Ridgeway at least an early edge on the rest of the returning defensive tackles on the roster heading into training camp.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Countdown to Kickoff: John Ridgeway III is the Saints Player of Day 95
Continue reading...
Ridgeway is looking for his third season in New Orleans. Our Saints Player of the Day, we take a look at Ridgeway's career to date as part of out Countdown to Kickoff series.
- Name (age): John Ridgeway III (27)
- Hometown: Bloomington, Ill.
- Position: Defensive tackle
- Height, weight: 6-foot-5, 321 pounds
- College: Arkansas Razorbacks
- Relative Athletic Score: 4.73
- Drafted: 6th round, 178th overall in 2021 (Dallas Cowboys)
- NFL experience: 4 years (2 with Saints)
- 2026 salary cap hit: $2.04 million
At Bloomington High School in Illinois, Ridgeway was an all-state performer in both football and wrestling as well as a star in the shot put and discus. From there, he'd initially attend Illinois State and starred for three years. Ridgeway was a 1st Team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference selection in 2020. After that season, he'd transfer to Arkansas. In his only year with the Razorbacks, Ridgeway had 2 sacks and 4 tackles for loss among his 39 total stops.
The Dallas Cowboys selected Ridgeway in Round 5 of the 2022 NFL Draft. Dallas released him one week into the regular season, when Washington swooped him to sign him off waivers. Ridgeway would appear in 32 games for Washington over the next two seasons, starting six contests and playing 31% of the defensive snaps. He'd have a total of 55 tackles, with none for negative yardage and no sacks but one forced fumble.
During training camp in 2024, the Saints acquired Ridgeway in a trade. New Orleans dealt a sixth round choice in the 2025 draft in exchange for Ridgeway and a Round 7 pick in this year's draft. Ultimately, Washington would deal that Round 6 pick back to New Orleans as part of mid-2024 trade for Marshon Lattimore. Also included in that trade was New Orleans trading a fifth round pick to Washington and receiving Washington's Round 3 and Round 4 choices back in return. With those draft picks, the Saints chose Virginia safety Jonas Sanker in the third round, Louisville cornerback Quincy Riley in the fourth.
Ridgeway played in 13 games for the Saints during 2024, but only appeared in 28% (264) of the defensive snaps. He managed 15 total tackles, including his first career tackle for negative yardage. In 2025, Ridgeway was placed on injured reserve at the conclusion of training camp. He'd return to play four games during the year and wound hit free agency at the conclusion of the season. However, the Saints and defensive coordinator saw enough in Ridgeway to re-sign him to a two-year deal worth around $6.2 million in base salary with $1.65 million guaranteed.
John Ridgeway III isn't guaranteed a spot on this year's roster. Especially with the offseason addition of second round draft pick Christen Miller and three undrafted rookie defensive tackles. But the fact that New Orleans valued him highly enough to quickly re-sign him in free agency may give Ridgeway at least an early edge on the rest of the returning defensive tackles on the roster heading into training camp.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Countdown to Kickoff: John Ridgeway III is the Saints Player of Day 95
Continue reading...
