The New Orleans Saints announced Friday that they have waived/injured CB Tony Carter and have signed WR Hakeem Nicks and OL John Fullington. The announcements were made by Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis.
Nicks, 6 feet 1, 208 pounds, joins New Orleans after playing for the New York Giants in 2015. Originally drafted by the Giants 29th overall in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft out of North Carolina, the Charlotte, N.C., native has appeared in 92 games with 67 starts over his seven-year career with two stints with the Giants wrapped around a season spent with the Indianapolis Colts in 2014. He's caught 356 passes over his NFL career for 5,081 yards (14.3 avg.) and 31 touchdowns. Over seven playoff appearances with four starts, he has accumulated 542 yards and five touchdowns on 34 receptions (15.9 avg.).
Spending his first five seasons with the Giants, Nicks would return to the team that drafted him for part of the 2015 campaign, appearing in six games with two starts and making seven receptions for 54 yards. Nicks saw his best season come in 2011, where he posted 76 receptions for a career-high 1,192 yards (15.7 avg.) and seven touchdowns, followed by a postseason performance that saw him record 28 receptions for 444 yards and four touchdowns over four games played, all starts. His 444 receiving yards were good for second-most in NFL history for a single postseason, helping lead the Giants to a victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI.
Fullington, 6-5, 300, was originally signed by the Green Bay Packers out of Washington State following the 2014 NFL Draft. After splitting the 2014 season between the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals practice squads, the Belfair, Wash. native spent the 2015 season on Arizona's injured reserve list. Starting 43 consecutive games at Washington State from 2010-13, Fullington posted the longest streak in program history by an offensive lineman and tied for the second-longest by any player. WSU's 2013 Mike Utley Award winner for offensive lineman of the year, the former Cougar started games at both tackle positions and both guard spots throughout his collegiate career.
CAREER TRANSACTIONS–* *Signed by New Orleans Saints, 7/27/16; Signed by New York Giants, 11/17/15; Released by Titans, 9/5/15; Signed by Tennessee Titans (UFA-IND) to a one-year contract, 4/24/15; Signed by Indianapolis Colts (UFA-NYG) to a one-year contract, 3/4/14; Agreed to terms on a five-year contract with the Giants, 8/1/09; Selected by New York Giants in the first round (29th overall) of the 2009 NFL Draft.
HONORS – 2012– NFC Offensive Player of the Week (Week Two). 2009 – NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month (October).
2015 – Appeared in six games with two starts for the Giants and recorded seven receptions for 54 yards…Made his season debut at Washington, Nov. 29, making a four-yard catch…Made a 10-yard catch that resulted in a first down vs. Carolina, Dec. 20…Caught two passes for 24 yards in the season finale vs. Philadelphia, 1/3/16. 2014 – Played in all 16 games in his lone season with the Colts, making six starts and totaling 38 receptions for 405 yards and four touchdowns. Added six receptions for 98 yards and a score in three postseason contests…Recorded five receptions for 36 yards and a touchdown in his debut with the Colts, scoring on a nine-yard pass from Andrew Luck in the fourth quarter at Denver, Sept. 7…Totaled 50 yards on four receptions, including a one-yard touchdown reception at Jacksonville, Sept. 21…Notched a 10-yard touchdown vs. New England, Nov. 16…Recorded two receptions for 44 yards, including a 26-yard touchdown vs. Houston, Dec. 14…Posted season-high nine receptions for 72 yards at Dallas, Dec. 21…Registered three receptions for 59 yards in team's Wild Card Round victory vs. Cincinnati, 1/4/15…Posted two receptions for 24 yards and a touchdown in the team's Divisional Round matchup at Denver, 1/11/15. 2013 – Started all 15 games in which he participated, accumulating 896 yards on 56 receptions with a team-high average of 16.0 yards per reception. Produced three 100-yard receiving games, giving him 16 total for his career…Recorded four catches for 114 yards, with a long of 57 yards in the team's opener at Dallas, Sept. 8. Was part of the first trio in Giants history to have more than 100 receiving yards (Victor Cruz 118, Nicks 114, Rueben Randle 101) in the same contest…Tallied a season-high 142 yards on nine receptions vs. Philadelphia, Oct. 6. Both totals were game highs…Recorded two catches for 34 yards vs. Washington, Dec. 1. Passed Bob Tucker for ninth on the Giants all-time receiving yards list with 4,380 total yards…Posted 135 yards on five receptions at San Diego, Dec. 8. Averaged a game-high 27.0 yards per reception. 2012 – Played in 13 games with 11 starts and caught 53 passes for 692 yards (13.1 avg.) and three touchdowns…Named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his 10-catch 199-yard performance in the team's Week Two matchup vs. Tampa Bay, Sept. 16. Also caught one touchdown pass. The 199 yards were the sixth-highest total in franchise history and the most by a Giants receiver since Plaxico Burress had 204 yards in 2005…Caught nine passes for 75 yards at Cincinnati, Nov. 11…Scored one touchdown to go along with 77 yards on five receptions vs. Green Bay, Nov. 25…Amassed 67 yards and a touchdown on four receptions vs. New Orleans, Dec. 9…Didn't a catch a pass vs. Baltimore, Dec. 23, ending streak of catching at least one pass in 53 consecutive games in which he played. 2011 – Started all 15 regular season games and four postseason games in which he played. Finished second on the team with 76 catches for a career-high 1,192 yards while adding seven touchdowns. The 76 catches tied for the fifth-highest total in Giants history. Became third receiver in Giants history with at least two consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, joining Del Shofner (1961-63) and Amani Toomer (1999-2001). Teamed with Victor Cruz (1,536) to give Giants two 1,000-yard receivers for the first time in franchise history. Led Giants in all three major receiving categories in the postseason, including catches (28), yards (444), and touchdowns (four). The 28 catches were the highest total by a Giant in a single postseason. Averaged 15.9 yards-per-catch in postseason, the highest ever by a Giant with at least 15 receptions…Opened the season with seven catches for 122 yards at Washington, Sept. 11…Scored his first touchdown of the season on a three-yard pass from Eli Manning vs. St. Louis, Sept. 19…Caught 10 passes for 162 yards, including the game-winning 29-yard touchdown with 2:39 left at Arizona, Oct. 2…Totaled two touchdowns to go along with 88 yards on seven catches vs. Green Bay, Dec. 14…Reached a season-high 163 yards on eight catches at Dallas, Dec. 11…Amassed 76 yards and a touchdown on five catches in the Giants' NFC East-clinching victory vs. Dallas, 1/1/12…Had six receptions for 115 yards, including touchdowns of four and 72 yards, in an NFC Wild Card Game vs. Atlanta, 1/8/12. His 100-yard game was the first by a Giants receiver in the postseason since the 2007 NFC Championship Game when Plaxico Burress had 151 yards on 11 catches. The 72-yard touchdown reception tied for the longest postseason play in Giants history…Caught seven passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns in the NFC Divisional Playoff Game at Green Bay, 1/15/12. The 165 receiving yards became the second-highest total by a Giant in a postseason game, trailing only Bob Schnelker with 175 yards in 1959. Averaged 23.5 yards-per-catch, which was the highest ever by a Giant with more than four receptions in a postseason game…Caught 10 passes for 109 yards in team's Super Bowl XLVI victory vs. New England, 2/5/12. Both totals set Giants Super Bowl records. 2010 –Had team-high totals of 79 receptions and 1,052 yards. The 79 receptions were good enough for seventh in the NFC and 12th in the NFL. The totals were also good enough for third all-time in Giants history. Became the 10th player in Giants history with 1,000 receiving yards in a season. Totaled 11 touchdown receptions, tying Del Shofner (1961) for third-highest total in Giants history. Became the first Giants receiver to hit double-digit touchdown receptions since Plaxico Burress in 2007…Caught three touchdown passes in a Week 1 win vs. Carolina, Sept. 12, the first multiple-touchdown game of his career. Finished with four catches for 75 yards…Caught a touchdown pass to go with two catches for 38 yards at Indianapolis, Sept. 19…Recorded 12 receptions at Houston, Oct. 10, tying the Giants record for catches in a game by a wide receiver. He also caught two touchdown passes to go along with 130 yards…Returned a punt for the second time in his career vs. Green Bay, Dec. 26, returning it 14 yards. 2009 – Amassed 790 yards on 47 catches, both good for the third-highest totals from a Giants rookie. Caught six touchdowns, the most by a Giants rookie since Bobby Johnson in 1984. His 790 receiving yards tied for the most among rookies. Scored a touchdown in four consecutive games, becoming the first Giants rookie to do so since Bob Gaiters in 1961, and the first NFL rookie to do so since Buffalo's Lee Evans in 2004. Named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month for October 2009…Recorded first NFL catch on an 11-yard screen pass vs. Washington, Sept. 13. Finished the game with two receptions for 18 yards…Caught his first NFL touchdown vs. Kansas City, Oct. 4. The touchdown came on a 54-yard screen pass…Tallied the first 100-yard receiving game of his career vs. New Orleans, Oct. 18. He finished the game with 114 yards on five receptions…Posted his second 100-yard receiving game vs. Philadelphia, Dec. 13, finishing the game with four receptions for 110 yards.
COLLEGE– Left the UNC as the school's all-time leader in career receiving yards (2,840), career receptions (181) and career touchdown receptions (21). His 181 receptions were also good enough for 13th all-time in Atlantic Coast Conference history…Started all 36 games he played for at UNC and led team in receptions in each of his three seasons…Caught at least one pass in 26 straight games…Finished collegiate career with a catch in 35-of-36 career games…The first UNC underclassman to declare for the NFL draft since DE Julius Peppers (2001)…As a junior, he was a first-team All-ACC selection, becoming the first player in UNC history to gain over 1,000 receiving yards in a season with 1,222 yards on 68 catches…Had 217 receiving yards in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, good for the second-most all-time…As a sophomore, set a single-season school record with 74 catches for 958 yards and five touchdowns, finishing second in the ACC with 79.8 receiving yards per game…As a freshman, started all 11 games that he played, leading the team and setting school single-season records for receptions (39) and receiving yards (660) by a freshman…Majored in general studies.
PERSONAL –Attended Independence (Charlotte, N.C.) HS…Ranked as eighth-best player in North Carolina and the 22nd-best WR in country by SuperPrep as senior…Named MVP of the Class 4-AA state championship game after leading Independence (15-0) to a 38-19 win over New Bern with eight catches for 205 yards and two TDs…Was undefeated throughout his high school career…Was the North Carolina AP All-State and Charlotte Observer Offensive Player of the Year…Rated as the fourth-best North Carolina prospect by Rivals.com…Played on North Carolina's Shrine Bowl team where he caught three passes for 42 yards and a TD…Named the 2013 Giants Hometown Hero by the United Way of New York City for his outstanding commitment to the community…Born Hakeem Amir Nicks on January 14, 1988.
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