New Orleans Saints Rumors & News - Pro Football Rumors

Saints To Sign Stephone Anthony

September 25th, 2019 at 12:01pm CST by Zachary Links

The Saints are set to sign linebacker Stephone Anthony, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). He’ll take the roster spot of fellow ‘backer Kaden Elliss, who has been placed on injured reserve, Mike Triplett of ESPN.com tweets.

Anthony was a first-round pick of the Saints in 2015, but he didn’t live up to expectations. During the 2017 season, the club shipped him off to the Dolphins, who declined his fifth-year option and allowed him to walk after the 2018 season. This offseason, he signed deals with the Falcons and Jets, who both released him in August.

He hadn’t received any known interest since then, but luckily for him his former team suffered a rash of injuries at linebacker. As Rapoport pointed out in his tweet, Anthony is also reuniting with special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi, who was his special teams coordinator during his time in Miami.

Ellis is dealing with a knee injury, and starting linebacker Alex Anzalone had already been placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury. Ellis is a seventh-round rookie for Idaho who had only been a depth piece prior to his injury. Anthony started all 16 games as a rookie in 2015, but he started only three the next year and never made a start in Miami as he played mostly on special teams.

Saints DT Sheldon Rankins Could Play This Weekend

September 23rd, 2019 at 8:50pm CST by Ben Levine

There’s a chance that Saints defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins sees this field next Sunday night, but Nick Underhill of The Athletic tweets that the 25-year-old is more likely to return in Week 5 or Week 6. The 2016 first-rounder has yet to play in a game this season as he recovers from his Achilles injury. After compiling a career-high eight sacks during the 2018 regular season, Rankins suffered the injury during the divisional round of the playoffs.

[SOURCE LINK]

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/21/19

September 21st, 2019 at 7:51pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

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

New England Patriots

Signed: LB Scooby Wright
Released: DE Gerri Green

New Orleans Saints

Signed: DT Taylor Stallworth
Released: TE Alize Mack

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

September 18th, 2019 at 9:57pm CST by PFR Staff

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.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/18/19

September 18th, 2019 at 9:35pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Wednesday’s minor moves:

Miami Dolphins

Signed: S Doug Middleton

New Orleans Saints

Promoted from practice squad: WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey

New York Jets

Placed on IR: QB Trevor Siemian

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

September 18th, 2019 at 7:52pm CST by PFR Staff

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

September 18th, 2019 at 11:46am CST by Zachary Links

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.