New Orleans Saints News & Rumors

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/21/19

We’ve got a couple of practice squad updates for you on a slow Saturday night.

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

Stallworth made the Saints’ initial 53-man roster as they were missing defensive tackles Sheldon Rankins and David Onyemata, but got the axe earlier this week. Wright, the former Pac 12 Defensive Player of the Year with Arizona, was a seventh-round pick of Arizona’s back in 2016. After a stint in the AAF, he spent training camp with New England.

Saints Sign LB Ray-Ray Armstrong

The Saints have signed veteran linebacker Ray-Ray Armstrong to fill a roster spot created by Alex Anzalone‘s IR placement.

Armstrong did not make the Browns’ 53-man roster this summer and worked out for the Saints on Tuesday, doing so after auditioning for the Redskins earlier this month.

A UDFA out of Miami in 2013, Armstrong has bounced around the league throughout his career, spending time with the Rams, Raiders, 49ers, Giants and Browns. He played in 15 games in each of the past two seasons, working mostly as a reserve, and went through four seasons playing in regular-season games for multiple teams. For his career, the 28-year-old linebacker has made 12 starts.

The Saints placed Anzalone on IR on Monday; it’s unclear if there is a chance Anzalone could return to the lineup this year. New Orleans’ starting middle linebacker will have to miss a minimum of eight weeks before that is a possibility. In the meantime, New Orleans added a journeyman in an attempt to fill the void.

QB Notes: Cam, Dak, Teddy, Eli, Siemian

Kyle Allen is trending toward starting for the Panthers this week, as Cam Newton missed practice Wednesday while he recovers from a foot injury, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. After Carolina’s loss to Tampa Bay last week, Newton complained of foot pain and it was expected that he would miss some game time. After initially suffering the injury during the preseason, and then aggravating it last week, it would seem wise for Carolina to let the former MVP fully heal before taking the field again.

In the interim, Allen would be the starter for the foreseeable future and would be set to face former college teammate Kyler Murray this Sunday when they take on the Cardinals. In his lone career start last year, a win against the Saints, Allen played well, completing 16 of 27 passes for 228 yards and two touchdowns.

Let’s take a look at some other quarterback notes from around the NFL:

  • A week ago, Jerry Jones said a deal for Dak Prescott was “imminent,” but a few days later acknowledged just because he thinks it is imminent doesn’t mean the quarterback does, according to ESPN’s Todd Archer. After the Cowboys‘ win in Washington, Jones continued to display his belief a deal will get done. “I have no hesitation about it. I’m very comfortable. He’s very comfortable,” Jones said. “The way it is, he’s very comfortable. Those are things we re-emphasize a timeframe in anything that requires two people … and I’m not trying to be talking riddles here. Certainly from the standpoint of where we’ve been from talking about, his business, talking about the Cowboys’ business, we have a lot of water under the bridge.” Many expect a deal to get done between the Cowboys and Prescott at some point this season.
  • With Drew Brees expected to miss the next six weeks due to a thumb injury, the Saints will rely on Teddy Bridgewater to carry the load and run the offense. Interestingly, there are also some financial incentives tied to Bridgewater making starts for the Saints in the wake of Brees’ injury. Bridgewater can earn up to $5.25MM in incentives, while also getting $2.5MM if he plays 50% of the offensive snaps and they make the playoffs, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
  • After undergoing an MRI on Tuesday, Adam Gase informed the media that Trevor Siemian would unsurprisingly be out for the season, with an MRI revealing torn ligaments. After the swelling goes down, Siemian is expected to have surgery, according to Rapoport. In the interim, Luke Falk is penciled in as the Jets’ starter until starter Sam Darnold returns from mono, which could be as soon as Week 5 against the Eagles.
  • After being benched by the Giants for rookie Daniel Jones, Eli Manning said today that that he was “obviously disappointed, not happy”, but still intends to finish this season and support Jones. It remains to be seen if Manning finishes the season with the only NFL franchise he’s known. However, if any of the quarterback-needy teams were to try and trade for Manning, they would have to take on a hefty amount of salary. Manning is making $17MM this year, with $5.5MM (roster/workout bonuses) having already been paid out, costing any team $676k a week (base salary), according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.

Saints Won’t Place Drew Brees On IR

Saints coach Sean Payton says he does not plan to place quarterback Drew Brees on injured reserve. That means Brees will be eligible to return in less than eight weeks, which is excellent news for the Saints. 

This jibes with what we heard shortly after Brees was diagnosed with a torn ligament in his thumb earlier this week. The initial estimate was six weeks, so he’s likely on track for that same window.

If he’s out for six weeks, Brees will miss games against the Seahawks (this Sunday), Cowboys, Buccaneers, Jaguars, Bears, and Cardinals. After that, the Saints have a bye week, which would put Brees on target for a Nov. 10 return at home against the rival Falcons.

In the interim, the Saints are moving forward with Teddy Bridgewater as the starter and Taysom Hill as his lone backup. With Brees still on the 53-man roster, the club is unlikely to consider an outside arm to round out the QB room.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/17/19

Here are Tuesday’s practice squad decisions:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Los Angeles Chargers

New Orleans Saints

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Redskins

  • Signed: TE Donald Parham
  • Cut: TE Drew Belcher

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/17/19

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:

Detroit Lions

Los Angeles Chargers

New Orleans Saints

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

NFL Workout Updates: 9/17/19

Here are Tuesday’s updates from the workout circuit, all links going to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter unless otherwise noted.

Atlanta Falcons

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

  • T Gerhard deBeer, Christian DiLauro, Brandon Hitner, C James Murray (link)

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Oakland Raiders

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Redskins

NFL Workout Updates: 9/16/19

We’ve got another batch of workout updates from the past few days, all via veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer on Twitter (unless otherwise noted):

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Miami Dolphins

New Orleans Saints

Oakland Raiders

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Saints Place LB Alex Anzalone On IR

While injury news out of New Orleans will naturally be focused on quarterback Drew Brees, the Saints lost another contributor today. ESPN’s Field Yates tweets that the team has placed linebacker Alex Anzalone on the injured reserve.

As Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com points out, while Anzalone’s current injury isn’t known, the third-year player has struggled with shoulder ailments during his brief career. He was limited to only four games (and, notably, four starts) as a rookie before landing on the IR with a shoulder injury. He also had shoulder surgery this past offseason.

The former third-rounder out of Florida did manage to appear in all 16 games (seven starts) last season, compiling 59 tackles, two sacks, and three forced fumbles. He also appeared in the Saints first two games this season, collecting seven tackles and one sack. However, he only appeared in 18 of his team’s 70 defensive snaps yesterday.

The Saints acquired Kiko Alonso prior to the start of the season, and while the veteran has played a minor role through his first two games with New Orleans, he’ll surely be counted on following this latest injury. The Saints are also rostering linebackers Demario Davis, A.J. Klein, Craig Robertson, and Kaden Elliss.