Michigan State Football: Joe Bachie signs with Saints as UDFA

Joe Bachie is getting his opportunity with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent after a strong Michigan State football career.

The 2020 NFL Draft has come and gone and two Spartans heard their names called during the process. Josiah Scott went in the fourth round to the Jaguars and Kenny Willekes surprisingly slid all the way to round seven with the Minnesota Vikings.

Michigan State had a handful of guys who likely should have been drafted and three of them went all seven rounds without hearing their names called.

One of the most surprising undrafted free agent Spartans had to have been former All-Big Ten middle linebacker Joe Bachie.

Shortly after the draft, however, he signed an undrafted free agent deal with the New Orleans Saints.

The Saints currently have Kiko Alonso starting at middle linebacker with only one guy behind him on the depth chart, so we could see Bachie pushing for a roster spot this fall. New Orleans also drafted Zack Baun so he’ll have a fellow Big Ten star on the roster with him in the rookie class.

Bachie’s fall out of the draft was surprising, but after he tested positive for a banned substance and was suspended for the remainder of his senior season, it seemed clear that he was going to raise some red flags for teams. He admitted later it wasn’t a steroid but rather a vitamin supplement but teams were still hesitant to pull the trigger.

The former three-star linebacker from Ohio had a very productive career at Michigan State, finishing with 285 total tackles, 28 tackles for loss, seven sacks and five interceptions. He was on pace to have a career year as a senior before his suspension with a career-high 9.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.

Will Bachie stick with the Saints or will he find himself on the practice squad this fall?