The Saints are 67 days out from opening the 2026 regular season, and the first test comes on the road against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Sept. 13. As New Orleans counts down toward training camp, the player wearing No. 67 is undrafted rookie defensive tackle Zxavian Harris.
Harris arrives with plenty of intrigue. At 6-foot-8 and 320 pounds, he looks the part of a disruptive interior lineman, and the Saints are betting on the upside after he went undrafted in 2026. He carries a 2026 salary cap hit of $885,000 and enters the league as a rookie trying to carve out a roster spot.
A native of Gluckstadt, Miss., Harris was a four-star recruit at Germantown High School and drew heavy attention from national programs before choosing Ole Miss. He stayed with the Rebels for four seasons and developed into a standout, finishing his college career with 17.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. His top season came in his final year, when he added an interception, 3 sacks, 9 stops for loss and 58 total tackles.
The reasons he fell out of the draft were not limited to one issue. Reported off-field concerns, including arrests in 2023 and 2024, played a major role, and foot surgery kept him out of the NFL Scouting Combine. On top of that, conditioning remained a question during college, along with the need to sharpen his leverage and overall agility.
Still, the talent is obvious. Harris brings tremendous power with an underrated burst, plus the kind of size-speed combination that can make life miserable for blockers.
He also has the versatility to line up in different spots across the defensive front. For a Saints team looking for a camp surprise, Harris fits the bill as a dark horse worth watching.
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