The New Orleans Saints have lost a player to free agency.

Defensive end Kasim Edebali has signed a one-year deal with the Denver Broncos.

The 27-year old Edebali, via his Instagram account, said his three years in New Orleans were special:

"To my former teammates, coaches, and to all the fans. It's really special when no matter who you're with, no matter where you are, everybody in New Orleans is like family. I'll forever be grateful for the love, support, memories, and opportunity to be part of the WhoDatNation for 3 years. But when one door closes, another one opens and I'm excited about the future and the next chapter in my career!"

A restricted free agent, the Saints did not extend a qualifying offer to Edebali before the start of the 2017 league year last Thursday.

An undrafted free agent out of Boston College in 2014, Edebali played in all 48 games for the Saints over the past three seasons, including two starts, in which he compiled 54 tackles, including 8 sacks.

Edebali becomes the first player that the Saints have lost to another team since free agency began last Thursday.

Sure, you'd like to keep all of your players, especially those that are still young, with some upside, like Edebali, but in this day and age of the NFL, that's just not realistic.

The bottom line is that is looks like the Saints didn't make much of an attempt to keep Edebali, so they obviously think this isn't much of a loss.

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