Chase Young undergoes neck surgery after signing with the Saints

New Saints DE Chase Young, who signed his one-year, $13 million deal with New Orleans today, is undergoing a neck procedure that is expected to sideline him into training camp, per sources. The expectation is that he will return in time for the season. Teams were aware of his… pic.twitter.com/I2saUzLFhp

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 19, 2024

This sure dampens the mood for New Orleans Saints fans. Their team’s shiny new free agent acquisition is going on the mend until July — if not longer. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that Chase Young underwent neck surgery after signing a one-year, fully-guaranteed $13 million contract with the team.

Schefter says that while Young is expected to return in time for the start of the regular season in September, recovery from this procedure will “sideline him into training camp.” So fans shouldn’t expect to even see Young on the practice field until August. Young played through the injury last season for two different teams but requires this now procedure in order to continue his career.

While Schefter says that teams were aware of this medical situation, and that “the Saints were comfortable moving ahead with it,” it’s very disappointing for a team with such a lengthy history of injuries at the defensive end position. Marcus Davenport and Payton Turner, both first-round draft picks, spent extensive time in trainer’s room early in their careers. Young is quite literally following in their footsteps. Hopefully everything will go as planned so that Young can hit the field in Week 1 and make a positive impact.