Every year, a ton of players who have finished their time in college football go undrafted in the NFL Draft.
Some of those players get contracts. Others get rookie minicamp updates. Very few make long NFL careers of such a start.
Arthur Maulet was an exception, though.
An undrafted player originally signed by the New Orleans Saints, Maulet lasted nine seasons in the NFL and played in 94 regular season games.
That’s quite impressive for a player who wasn’t drafted in the first place.
That career is over now, with Maulet’s retirement news emerging this week:
Physical NFL slot cornerback Arthur Maulet is retiring after 9 seasons.
Maulet made his biggest impacts with Steelers, Jets and Ravens. Now curtain closes. https://t.co/ihlUdyJSzv
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) November 5, 2026
He made quite the career out of a quiet beginning.
Arthur Maulet With Saints
Maulet played his college football at Memphis after growing up in Louisiana. He was pretty small, checking in at just 5-foot-9, and didn’t get drafted in 2017.
The Saints liked what they saw enough to bring Maulet aboard and have him play mostly special teams. In six games as a rookie, Maulet made one tackle. He also played in two playoff games.
He then got one more game with the Saints in 2018 before he was let go and signed with the Indianapolis Colts.
So it was just seven of those 94 NFL regular season games with the Saints, but Maulet had to prove himself, and he did so in New Orleans.
Arthur Maulet Career
Maulet played five games with the Colts after joining them, making nine tackles.
Beginning with the Jets in 2019, Maulet got more of a chance in the slot and showed he could make plays. He had 38 tackles and an interception with New York in 2019, then 29 tackles and another pick in 2020 for the Jets.
Maulet joined the Steelers for 2021 and 2022, and he put together seasons with 47 and 59 tackles while totaling four passes defensed and an interception across those two seasons.
In 2023 and 2024, Maulet combined to play 17 games for the Baltimore Ravens.
He then suited up for nine games with the Detroit Lions in 2025, nabbing the last of his five career NFL interceptions.
Maulet became a free agent after the 2025 season ended, and he didn’t sign any contract over the summer. His career is now officially over.
It’s not the most glamorous tenure in the league, but it’s the kind of gritty, grinding perseverance that allows undrafted players to make real impacts — that’s exactly what Maulet did, and it was the Saints who gave him his first shot.
Ex-Saints Undrafted Find Retires After 9 NFL Seasons