Saints agree to terms with Ty Montgomery

New Orleans Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis announced Saturday that the club has agreed to terms with Ty Montgomery II on a one-year contract.

Montgomery, 6-0, 216, was originally a third round pick (94th overall) in the 2015 NFL Draft out of Stanford. After he was originally selected as a wide receiver, he transitioned to running back in 2016 and played both positions for New Orleans in 2020. Montgomery has appeared in 62 career games with 17 starts for Green Bay (2015-18), Baltimore (2018), the New York Jets (2019) and New Orleans (2020), carrying 243 times for 1,136 yards (4.7 avg.) with seven touchdowns, recording 123 receptions for 1,009 yards (8.2 avg.) with three touchdowns and returning 55 kickoffs for 1,215 yards (22.1 avg.). In five postseason contests with three starts for the Saints, Packers and Ravens, he caught 11 passes for 90 yards and carried 29 times for 105 yards with two touchdowns.

In 2020 after signing with the club in the offseason as an unrestricted free agent, Montgomery saw action at both running back and wide receiver for New Orleans, playing in six games with one start and carrying 19 times for 101 yards and catching three passes for 27 yards, also returning two kickoffs for 57 yards. In the regular season finale on January 3 at Carolina and with playoff seeding at stake, Montgomery was thrust into the feature back role and carried 18 times for 105 yards, (5.8 avg.), including a second quarter 36-yard rush for the second-highest rushing total of his career.

In four seasons at Stanford, Montgomery recorded career totals of 172 receptions for 2,125 yards with 15 touchdowns, carried 39 times for 334 yards with four touchdowns, returned 91 kickoffs for 2,493 yards (27.4 avg.) with three touchdowns and brought back 12 punts for 238 yards (19.8 avg.) with two scores.

New Orleans Saints RB/WR Ty Montgomery
Video Call with New Orleans Media
Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Can you reflect on last year and if we ever saw the best version of you with some of the injuries that came along with the season?
“I’m not sure what you mean by the best version of me, but I came into work every day, did all I could, worked very hard, my opportunities were limited but I definitely think there’s more that I could show and I’m just going to be ready when my number’s called.”

How much did the injuries hamper you throughout the season until the end?
“The injuries came at a bad time. They were really nagging injuries. I haven’t been a soft tissue injury guy throughout my career and to have a couple hamstring injuries was very frustrating. It’s something I’m going to be on top of this year.”

You mentioned limited opportunities, how much did that factor into your decision to return to the team?
“The Saints organization’s a great organization, great coaching, great staff, great teammates, great medical/training team, everything top to bottom, left to right. It’s just a great place to be. I think with somebody like myself and my skillset, it’s the best place for me to be right now.”

Do you feel like they are going to find more ways to get out of you what they got in Week 17?
“Yes. Hopefully whatever I showed in that final week can bring me more opportunities, but whatever they want me to be, I’m going to be ready to go.”

Have you had conversations with the team about what position you are going to play for them?
“No, I haven’t had any of those conversations. My mindset’s just to be ready for whatever (they ask me to do). I have a skillset of a running back, I have a skillset of receiver and I do have a skillset of a returner and I can play special teams anywhere. So, I’m just going to continue to get better in every aspect and just try to contribute to the team however I can.”

What do you feel like that last regular season game at Carolina said about you, practicing at wide receiver throughout the week and being put at tailback the day before the game?
“For myself, I just feel like it was a statement game I guess, like for the past two or three seasons I’ve had very limited opportunities, and to finally get a game where (I had the chance to be) the feature back or whatever it is. There’s just a bunch of opportunity for me in one game and I think I went out and showed that I can still play, (and) I belong in this league. And there’s no slacking on my end and I definitely think there’s more that I can show. That game I was just getting the ball, getting downhill. I know some areas where I can work on and just kind of getting…Once I get that comfortability back, getting back out there and that game was definitely helpful. I started being able to make more moves down the field, creating some bigger plays, because that’s what I’m about.”

In a two part question, is the uncertainty of this offseason with the cap being low factor into a quick decision to re-sign. If not, what did you like about New Orleans and about the organization?
“No, I knew I wanted to be back. I didn’t want to go anywhere else. So, like I said before, just great teammates, great coaching staff, training, medical, front office, just top to bottom left to right. It’s just a place where I feel like I can really thrive and it’s a place I want to be.”

The offseason last year due to the pandemic was limited. This year it seems it could be more traditional. Talk about the excitement about possibly being able to build up with a more conventional offseason?
“I’m very excited about that. And obviously no offseason is kind of critical or can hurt a lot of guys. And for myself, it can be very beneficial just to get out there and really get integrated more instead of just kind of being thrown into the fire for training camp, etc. So I’m excited to have a full offseason and just be around everyone, not just once but twice and really developing a strong rapport.”