Here are Thursday’s practice squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Buffalo Bills
Detroit Lions
Los Angeles Rams
New Orleans Saints
San Francisco 49ers
Here are Thursday’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Cleveland Browns
Dallas Cowboys
Detroit Lions
Las Vegas Raiders
Minnesota Vikings
New Orleans Saints
Pittsburgh Steelers
Today’s minor moves:
Baltimore Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals
Denver Broncos
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Rams
Miami Dolphins
New Orleans Saints
New York Jets
Washington Football Team
Here are Wednesday’s practice squad moves:
Atlanta Falcons
Dallas Cowboys
Houston Texans
Los Angeles Rams
Las Vegas Raiders
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
New York Jets
Pittsburgh Steelers
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
The Saints have released wide receiver Kenny Stills and defensive tackle Malcolm Roach, per the league’s transactions wire. Meanwhile, the Saints have re-signed wide receiver Kevin White to their practice squad.
Stills, 29, has been on and off the Saints roster this year. So far this season, he’s got five catches for 64 yards across ten games. Of course, that’s a far cry from his early work in New Orleans, which included 931 yards in 2014, his second year as a pro.
It’s a bit of a surprise that the Saints would be bailing on receivers at this point. We learned yesterday that Deonte Harris would miss the next three games while serving a suspension, and former All-Pro Michael Thomas has already been ruled out for the season. Tre’Quan Smith also missed time due to injury, and New Orleans hasn’t played with Alvin Kamara since Week 9.
Roach joined the Saints as an undrafted free agent out of Texas in 2020, and he collected 16 tackles in nine games as a rook. This year, he’s started two of his six games while compiling seven tackles and one interception. The 23-year-old has only appeared in one game for New Orleans since Week 5. After recently spending time on IR, the defensive tackle was designated to return earlier this week.
White, the seventh-overall pick in the 2015 draft, battled injuries throughout his Bears tenure and later caught on with the Cardinals and 49ers. He managed to get into three games with San Francisco last season without recording a reception, and he ended up getting cut by the squad in August. He ultimately caught on with New Orleans, and he ended up seeing time in five games (one start) for his new squad. The 29-year-old contributed one 38-yard reception during his time with the Saints, and he ultimately saw more special teams snaps than offensive snaps. He was cut by the team last week.
The Saints offense has taken another hit. Wideout Deonte Harris has been suspended for the next three games, reports ESPN’s Field Yates (via Twitter). The move will keep Harris off the field until Week 17.
We heard previously that Harris had been slapped with a ban, but his subsequent appeal allowed him to play in each of the Saints last two games. The suspension stems from the player’s DWI arrest this past summer. The 24-year-old was booked on multiple charge following a July 16th arrest in Maryland.
This move further depletes a Saints receiving corps that has been gutted this year. The team’s Emmanuel Sanders release preceded the Michael Thomas injury drama, which led to the All-Pro target being set to miss the entire season. Tre’Quan Smith also missed time due to injury, though he has since returned. New Orleans has also played without Alvin Kamara since Week 9.
This opened the door to Harris playing a bigger role on offense. While Karama still leads the team in receptions, Harris was the team’s leading wideout, collecting 31 receptions for 523 yards and three touchdowns (all career-highs). The former All-Pro has also continued to contribute on special teams, returning 25 kicks and 17 punts.
Meanwhile, the Saints may have to deal with an absence on their defense, as defensive end Cam Jordan was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list, per Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.football (on Twitter). Jordan has tested positive for COVID-19 and is vaccinated, meaning he’ll have to return a pair of negative tests if he hopes to play next Sunday against the Jets. That would mean Jordan’s 172-game streak is in jeopardy. The veteran has continued to be productive in 2021, collecting 38 tackles, six tackles for loss, 13 QB hits, and four forced fumbles.
The team also designated defensive tackle Malcolm Roach for return from IR (via Underhill).
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (tweet), Saints’ quarterback Taysom Hill will attempt to play through the injury he suffered after a hit to the middle finger on his throwing hand in Thursday night’s game against the Cowboys.
Confirming what many in the Saints’ organization thought, doctors for the Saints determined that Hill had indeed suffered a mallet finger. While this is the same injury that forced Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson to have surgery and miss 3 games in October, Hill’s injury is not as extensive. ESPN’s Stephania Bell was quoted saying that given the isolation of the one injury to the one finger, it was viable for Hill to play without surgery.
Bell continued, “My expectation is that we will see them customize a splint…that is open on the undersurface so he can feel and grip the ball. Then when he’s not playing, he’ll probably be in a sturdier splint.”
As long as he’s able to reach close to full strength with a couple extra days between games, there’s a good chance Hill continues to start when the Saints travel to East Rutherford to play the Jets in Week 14.
The Saints believe that quarterback Taysom Hill has suffered a torn tendon in his middle finger that may require surgery (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). Hill will know more after further testing, but he’s likely dealing with Mallet Finger, the same injury that forced Seahawks QB Russell Wilson to miss time this year.
Hill started under center for the Saints last night, completing just 19 of his 41 throws for two touchdowns against four interceptions. On the plus side, he was able to make plays with his feet, carrying the ball eleven times for 101 yards.
Hill came into the game with a partially torn plantar fascia that still isn’t 100%. Then, after suffering the finger injury, he had to play with a splint on his throwing hand — that didn’t go so well, so it stands to reason that the Saints will keep Hill off the field for at least a few weeks. And, now that the Saints are 5-7 with slim odds of securing a Wild Card spot, there’s little reason to rush things.
“I thought he played with a lot of heart, a lot of guts. We didn’t help him any in the first half,” said head coach Sean Payton, referencing Hill’s first interception, a catchable ball thrown to Kenny Stills (via ESPN.com).
The Saints, who will likely be without Hill, have a little over a week before their next game against the Jets.
The Saints have restructured Ryan Ramczyk‘s contract (Twitter link via Field Yates of ESPN.com). Now, the right tackle will have a portion of his base salary converted into a fully guaranteed roster bonus for 2022. The move will provide the Saints with an extra $242K in cap room for this year. 
[RELATED: Saints Place Kpassagnon On IR]
Ramczyk inked a five-year, $96MM extension with the Saints over the Summer, a mega-deal with $60MM in guarantees. The original agreement also gave the Saints some sorely needed breathing room — his fifth-year option would have carried a hit of $11MM for 2021; the extension tamped it down to $5.5MM. The restructure lowers the hit even further, allowing the Saints to bring in outside help if even more injuries arise.
Ramczyk’s $19.2MM AAV positions him as the NFL’s highest-paid right tackle. It was something of a no-brainer for the Saints — Ramczyk won’t turn 28 until April and he’s performed as one of the best blockers in the league throughout his career.
Unfortunately, Ramczyk has been sidetracked by injuries this year — both he and Alvin Kamara were held out of last night’s game to the Cowboys, a 27-17 loss that dropped the Saints to 5-7 on the year.
Tanoh Kpassagnon will be sidelined for at least the next three weeks. ESPN’s Field Yates reports (via Twitter) that the Saints have placed the defensive end on injured reserve.
Kpassagnon had already been ruled out for Week 13 thanks to a nagging ankle injury. The ailment had forced the defensive lineman to miss the previous two games, as well, and now he won’t see the field until Week 16 at the earliest.
The former second-round pick spent the first four seasons of his career with Kansas City, and he started 23 games for the Chiefs between the 2019 and 2020 seasons (along with six playoff starts and three playoff sacks). He joined the Saints this past offseason on a two-year deal, and he started five of his first eight games with the organization, collecting 18 tackles, four sacks, eight QB hits, and one forced fumble.
New Orleans made a handful of additional moves in anticipation of tonight’s matchup against the Cowboys (per Yates). The team signed offensive tackle Caleb Benenoch, defensive tackle Albert Huggins, and running back Adam Prentice from the practice squad to the active roster, and they also promoted linebacker Chase Hansen and guard Forrest Lamp to the 53-man roster.