Countdown to kickoff: Asim Richards is the Saints Player of Day 72

We are down to 72 days before the New Orleans Saints take the field for the start of their regular season. New Orleans will open the year against the Detroit Lions on the road on Sunday, Sept. 23. Offensive lineman Asim Richards wears the No. 72 as the Saints head to the start of training camp.

Richards is competing for his second year with the team. He was the primary backup tackle last year, but will face challenges to hold on to that job. For now though, we take a look at him as our Saints Player of the Day.

Name (age): Asim Richards (25)

Hometown: Haverford, Pa.

Position: Offensive Tackle

Height, weight: 6-foot-4, 307 pounds

College: North Carolina Tar Heels

Relative Athletic Score: 7.48

Drafted: Round 5, 169 overall in 2023 (Dallas Cowboys)

NFL experience: 3 years

2026 salary cap hit: $1.15 million

A football and basketball player at Haverford School in eastern Pennsylvania, Richards was a three-star recruit that ended up at North Carolina. After playing little as a freshman in 2019, Richards won the left tackle position heading into 2020. Over his last three years, he'd start 38 of 39 contests at left tackle for the Tar Heels.

Richards was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. He'd appear in 21 games with one start in two years with the Cowboys, playing 220 offensive snaps. Late in the 2025 preseason, New Orleans traded a 2028 sixth-round draft choice to Dallas in exchange for Richards and a 2028 seventh-round choice. An injury to Taliese Fuaga in the season opener would force Richards to step in at right tackle for nearly half the game. Two weeks later, he'd get the start for a banged-up Fuaga against the Seattle Seahawks. Richards was often used as an extra blocker in jumbo packages, but would also see time as Fuaga dealt with several nagging injuries.

Richards got back-to-back starts for an injured Fuaga in Weeks 10 and 12. He saw another start in Week 14, before being knocked out of the game with a high ankle sprain that sidelined him for two weeks. Richards wound up playing 363 offensive snaps in 2025, mostly at right tackle, along with another 58 on special teams. It was a career-best output for Richards on the offensive side, though it came with mixed results. This was particularly the case with pass protection issues, where he was often erratic at best.

Asim Richards comes into training camp as the top backup tackle behind starters Kelvin Banks Jr. and Fuaga. However, he'll be pushed hard to keep the job. The Saints have focused on improving the quality of their depth up front. While much of that has been on the interior, Richards will also have to hold off challenges from newcomers along the outside.

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Countdown to kickoff: Asim Richards is the Saints Player of Day 72