NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis announced that the club has agreed to terms with unrestricted free agent linebacker Willie Gay on a one-year contract.

Gay, 6-1, 243, is a four-year NFL veteran who was originally selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the second round (63rd overall) of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Mississippi State. In four seasons with Kansas City, he appeared in 57 regular season games with 47 starts and recorded 231 tackles (148 solo), 17 stops for loss, five sacks, four interception returns for 85 yards with one touchdown, 19 passes defensed, two forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and two special teams stops. The Starkville native started all nine postseason contests he appeared in with the Chiefs, including two Super Bowl victories, and recorded 29 tackles (18 solo), three stops for loss, a split sack, three passes defensed and one forced fumble.

In 2023, Gay appeared in 16 regular season games for the Chiefs and started a career-high 15 contests, recording 58 tackles (44 solo), four stops for loss, one sack, a 24-yard interception return, four passes defensed, one forced fumble and a career-high and club-best three fumble recoveries, tied for third in the NFL. In three postseason starts, he finished with nine tackles (five solo), one stop for loss and one pass defense.

In three seasons at Mississippi State (2017-19), Gay appeared in 31 games with six starts and tallied 99 tackles (46 solo), 11 stops for loss, six sacks, three interceptions, seven passes defensed, two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries.

The Saints signed receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. and Stanley Morgan Jr. Morgan is a native of New Orleans and Wilson is from Memphis.