It's fine to give Jayden Price grace if, after all he'd done to ensure a spot on the New Orleans Saints' 53-man roster coming out of training camp, he retained a twinge of uncertainty.
"I thought I did enough to deserve a chance, deserve an opportunity here," he said. "But in this business, you never know."
The business of the NFL hadn't been kind to Price in previous years, but his play created room for him after he'd been a training camp standout for weeks, intercepted a pass in the first preseason game against Jacksonville, and played well enough to ascend the depth chart to second-team at the star position on defense.
"It's always been my dream to get here, to reach this point," he said. "I've always imagined and believed in myself that I would eventually get here, so it feels good to finally reach this point."
He took the scenic route.
Price was an undrafted rookie defensive back with the Falcons in 2024 who was released that August. He was added to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats practice roster in September, appeared in one game, returned to the practice squad and was released. He signed with the Birmingham Stallions in October, was traded to the Arlington Renegades in November, played 10 games and was released in June 10, 2025, and signed with the Saints the same day.
The Saints released him in August, added him to the practice squad where he spent the '25 season, then signed him to a reserve/future contract in January '26.
The year on the practice squad allowed him to gain comfort in the system and show his versatility.
"Coming into it, after being a year in the system, on a whole different confidence level," he said. "A lot more comfortable within the defense, just being in it throughout a whole year, and continuing to learn. Moving inside this training camp, I played inside a little bit last year as well."
Saints defensive coordinator Brandon Staley said Price's story is a testament to what can happen when a player continues to persevere.
"His path is one that, hopefully, the NFL takes note of, because he's had to go the hard way," Staley said. "And he has done it the right way. Since he's come to us all he has done is improve. I think that he has shown a lot of versatility through his availability.
"On special teams he's been a factor as a gunner, as a returner — he has that background (from college at North Dakota State), which I think helps him. And then in the secondary, he has played outside, he's played inside, he can play safety. But I think as a cover guy, he has shown that not only can he cover people, but he can make plays on the football.
"He's got a real knack when the football is in the air, I think you see that ball judge that makes him a good returner. He's very natural when the ball is in the air, he's very natural when his back is to the ball. It's an incredible story and we're real proud of him. Now, the real work is in front of him."
The on-field work will continue as New Orleans prepares for its regular-season opener against Detroit, the first time Price will play in an NFL game. The hardest part of his journey — finding a team to invest and believe in him — has been accomplished.
"I just needed somebody to give me an opportunity, somebody to believe in me, and I'm just thankful for the Saints and that they did that," he said.
Kendre is OK
Saints coach Kellen Moore said running back Kendre Miller is fine, and that he only was a little banged up and sore coming out of the last preseason game against Dallas. Miller left Tuesday's practice early and did not practice Wednesday.
