New Orleans Saints Cut Nick Fairley with Non-Football Illness

The New Orleans Saints cut veteran defensive tackle Nick Fairley on Monday due to a non-football illness. First reported by ESPN's Field Yates:

Before the start of the season last March, a Saints team doctor found an irregularity in Fairley’s heart beat, this was shortly after the defensive tackle signed a $28 million contract to stay in New Orleans.

The timing of the decision seemed to be a financial one for the Saints, as Yates also reported that he would have been due a lot of money come Wednesday of this week:

The heart condition is an enlarged heart that had been chronicled since his days at the University of Auburn and even Saints head coach Sean Payton realized the challenges involved with this condition. He said, “It’s a challenging thing because he came out of the draft and there were some re-checks and it cleared at that time from everyone, but I’ve got to trust in the medical experts and I do, it’s just a difficult, unfortunate condition, and yet, fortunately we found it.”

Fairley was coming off a career year for the Saints in 2016 with career highs in sacks (6.5) and combined tackles (43). We wish him nothing but the best moving forward.

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