Kevin Snead

Saints Notes: Ingram, Davenport, Koo

Running back Mark Ingram is back at Saints practice after skipping organized team activities in May, tweets Nick Underhill of the Advocate. Ingram’s presence doesn’t come as a surprise, as he indicated late last month that he’d been in attendance for mandatory minicamp. A free agent at the end of the 2018 season, Ingram will begin the campaign by serving a four-game performance-enhancing drug suspension. New Orleans figures to hand a full workload to second-year running back Alvin Kamara, although the club is scheduled to audition veteran runners Jamaal Charles and Terrance West this week.

Here’s more on the Saints:

  • Rookie defensive end Marcus Davenport will undergo thumb surgery on a minor injury, but is expected to return in time for training camp, as Underhill writes in a full piece. Davenport will wait until after minicamp to have the operation, so he’s unlikely to miss any practice sessions. The Saints sacrificed a great deal of draft capital in order to land Davenport, trading two first-round selections and a fifth-rounder for the right to move up to pick No. 14. While Davenport’s injury seems negligible, New Orleans should have enough defensive end depth if he does end up missing significant action, as Alex Okafor (recovering from his own injury), Trey Hendrickson, and George Johnson, among others, are available.
  • In addition to Charles and West, the Saints plan to work out a number of players during their minicamp, including kicker Younghoe Koo (Twitter link via Larry Holder of NOLA.com); wide receiver Kevin Snead, tight end Jack Tabb, punter Jonathan Hernandez, and offensive lineman Trevor Darling (Twitter links via Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com); and wide receiver Josh Smith (Twitter link via Underhill). Of the group, Koo is the only member with NFL experience, as he spent four games as the Chargers’ kicker in 2017 before being waived.
  • In case you missed it, the Saints were one of five teams to use a post-June 1 release designation, meaning they were able to free up $3MM in cap space on June 1 as a result of tight end Coby Fleener‘s release.

NFL Workout Updates: 10/17/17

Today’s workout updates, with all links going to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter account unless otherwise noted:

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions 

Houston Texans

  • QB Taylor Heinicke (link via Caplan)

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Washington Redskins

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/27/17

Today’s minor moves:

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Jacksonville Jaguars

New England Patriots

  • Waived: DE Caleb Kidder
  • Waived/injured: TE Matt Lengel

New York Giants

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/18/17

Here are today’s minor moves.

  • Giants UDFA wide receiver Keeon Johnson broke his foot during Thursday’s practice and needed surgery, a source tells Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com (on Twitter). He has been waived with an injury designation, and Raanan expects he’ll land on IR.
  • In related moves, the Giants signed wideouts Ed Eagan and Canaan Severin and waived wide receiver Kevin Snead with an injury designation. Eagan entered the league as a Cowboys UDFA last year but ended up joining the Browns midway through camp. He spent last season bouncing on and off the Bills’ practice squad. Severin spent his would-be rookie year on the Steelers’ IR list; Pittsburgh cut him earlier this week.
  • The Cardinals announced they’ve signed inside linebacker Ryan Langford and released wide receiver Marquis Bundy. Langford and Bundy were teammates at the University of New Mexico. Bundy was promoted to Arizona’s active roster late last season after spending most of it on the practice squad. The Texans cut Langford after training camp last year.
  • A former Saints fifth-round draft choice in 2015, outside linebacker Davis Tull will sign with the Rams, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. Tull spent his rookie season on the Saints’ IR list and vacillated between free agency and the Falcons’ practice squad last season. The Tennessee-Chattanooga product was a Division I-FCS All-American in 2014.
  • The Dolphins waived rookie seventh-round pick, wide receiver Isaiah Ford, with an injury designation. Ford had been rehabbing after a knee surgery. The Virginia Tech product is coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons with the Hokies. Ford will revert to Miami’s IR if unclaimed on waivers.
  • The Packers reached an injury settlement with tight end Beau Sandland, Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com tweets. Green Bay signed Sandland to a reserve/futures deal in January but waived him earlier this week.
  • The Redskins also reached one with wideout Kendal Thompson, a former Utah quarterback who spent last season on Washington’s practice squad.

Minor NFC Transactions: 5/15/17

Earlier today, we rounded up some minor moves out of the AFC. In the interest of equal time, we turn our attention to the NFC:

  • The Rams signed two Northwestern State alums in wide receiver Shakeir Ryan and running back De’Mard Llorens, Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com reports. In addition to the skill-position talents from the Natchitoches, Louisiana-based program, the Rams added another small-school product in Mary Hardin-Baylor linebacker Teidrick Smith. The two Division I-FCS talents and Division III defender will displace two Rams in defensive back Jared Collins and offensive lineman Shaq McMeans, per Gonzalez. Their roster currently houses 89 players.
  • Former Georgia Tech quarterback Justin Thomas signed with the Saints, who also added guard Josh LeRibeus and running back Trey Edmunds, Nick Underhill of The Advocate reports. The 5-foot-11 Thomas operated as a dual-threat quarterback with the Yellowjackets and probably would convert positions for an NFL opportunity. He rushed for more than 1,000 yards as a sophomore in the program’s run-centric offense and threw for 18 touchdown passes that season. In the two subsequent slates, Thomas combined to throw 21 TDs. The son of former Dolphins Pro Bowl tight end Ferrell Edmunds, Trey Edmunds served as a reserve at Virginia Tech and Maryland.
  • On a busy Monday, the Saints signed Drew Iddings, a source tells Underhill (on Twitter). Iddings, a former defensive lineman, will be trying to stick as an offensive guard. The 6-foot-6, 290-pound athlete has no significant experience on offense, but New Orleans believes that the powerful lineman can make a smooth transition. In college at South Dakota, Iddings appeared in 46 games and totaled 149 tackles and eight sacks.
  • The Seahawks cut quarterback Skyler Howard and fullback Brandon Cottom and signed fullback Kyle Coleman and wide receiver Speedy Noil, per a team announcement. Noil entered the draft early out of Texas A&M. He caught just 42 passes combined the past two seasons.
  • Giants signed wide receiver Kevin Snead, a Carson-Newman product, after his tryout. Snead, a former track star, reportedly ran a sub-4.3-second 40-yard-dash. To make room, the team waived offensive lineman Martin Wallace.
  • The Lions have signed free agent offensive tackle Arturo Uzdavinis and waived tackle Pierce Burton.
  • The Vikings signed guard Freddie Tagaloa after a successful rookie minicamp tryout, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
  • The Cardinals signed wide receiver Larry Clark.