Da’Quan Bowers has been close enough the Saints have some degree of familiarity with him.
But he’s hoping a weekend with them instead of four years against them will help his chances.
The former Buccaneers second-round pick is in this weekend’s rookie minicamp on a tryout basis, which he hopes gives him a better chance to stick.
“It’s way different than a tryout,” Bowers said, via Evan Woodberry of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “You can really show what you can do. You get to show how well you can retain information. It’s just like being in a veteran camp. You get to go on the field and practice and show what you can do.”
Of course, injuries have kept the former Clemson All-American from showing what he can do on the field, after knee problems dropped him for a possible top-10 pick to the second round in 2011.
He has just 7.0 sacks in four seasons, but hopes he can show the Saints enough this weekend to earn a roster spot.
“I’m sure there’s an opportunity,” Bowers said. “If there wasn’t, I don’t think they would have brought me in. We’ll see where it goes. Hopefully they’ll like what they see, and we’ll move forward when the time is right.”
While his knee problems and an Achilles tear in 2012 might have kept him from ever delivering on the promise he showed in college (when he won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as the top defensive player), Bowers is grateful for the chance.