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New Orleans Saints News & Rumors

Saints Announce Roster Moves

September 1st, 2018 at 5:13pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Saints have made the following transactions as they move their roster to 53 players:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

Released:

Placed on injured reserve:

Placed on suspended list:

Browns Make Minor Trade With Saints

September 1st, 2018 at 3:30pm CST by Zachary Links

The Browns have reached the 53-man roster maximum by making a whole lot of cuts and acquiring one player just before the bell.

On Saturday, the Browns announced that they acquired defensive lineman Devaroe Lawrence from the Saints in exchange for a 2019 seventh-round pick. Lawrence, 26 in October, overcame legal trouble as a youngster to achieve his dream of making it to the NFL. Injuries have held him back in the pros, but the Saints stuck by him even after ACL surgery in December of 2016.

“We felt he was athletic, explosive and we felt like he could recover,” said Saints coach Sean Payton (via Luke Johnson of The Times-Picayune). “In other words, he was battling an injury and we saw traits that are hard to find sometimes for defensive tackles, and it’s hard to find that position, especially after the draft.”

So, with Lawrence in the fold, the Browns waived the following 19 players to get down to the limit:

Saints To Place Shane Vereen On IR

August 31st, 2018 at 3:59pm CST by Sam Robinson

Both of the veteran running backs the Saints added to potentially fill the void created by Mark Ingram‘s four-game suspension will not factor into the equation while he’s out.

The Saints will place Shane Vereen on IR, Nick Underhill of The Advocate tweets. Vereen and Terrance West signed with New Orleans earlier this offseason but will see the team go with younger backs while Ingram’s sidelined.

It’s unclear what Vereen’s injury is, but he won’t be playing for the Saints this season. An injury settlement is possible, but did not receive much interest on the market this year after his Giants contract expired. The Saints were the only team to whom the former Patriots and Giants passing-down back was connected this year.

Vereen, 29, totaled a career-best 1,076 yards from scrimmage for the 2015 Giants but did not factor in nearly as often to Big Blue’s offense in his subsequent two seasons in New York. Behind Alvin Kamara, the Saints have Trey Edmunds, former Bills draft choice Jonathan Williams and rookie sixth-rounder Boston Scott as of Friday afternoon.

Saints Cut WR Michael Floyd, Others

August 31st, 2018 at 3:45pm CST by Sam Robinson

Michael Floyd and Brandon Tate both signed with the Saints late in the offseason. Each received notice of a Friday release.

The Saints cut Floyd, along with offensive linemen Don Barclay and Andrew Tiller and former second-round linebacker Hau’oli Kikaha (all Twitter links via Nick Underhill of The Advocate). They are also parting ways with edge defender Jayrone Elliott, per Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com (on Twitter).

Floyd has not been able to recapture his Cardinals form. After three straight 800-plus-yard receiving seasons, he’s combined for barely 100 away from Arizona. He caught 10 passes for 78 yards with the 2017 Vikings.

Tiller started 14 games for the 49ers from 2016-17, and Barclay joined him in signing with the Saints this offseason. Both players came into the league in 2012, Barclay being a former Packers starter.

The longest-tenured Saints linebacker going into Friday, Kikaha came off the 2015 draft board at No. 44 but saw the team revamp its linebacker room via free agency over the past few years. They signed Demario Davis this offseason. The Saints, who deployed Kikaha as an 11-game starter in 2015, have now parted ways with two of their top three 2015 picks — Stephone Anthony and Kikaha. New Orleans picked up 2015 first-rounder Andrus Peat‘s fifth-year option earlier this year.

 

Saints To Release WR Brandon Tate

August 31st, 2018 at 3:03pm CST by Sam Robinson

Brandon Tate‘s bid for a 10th NFL season may have to commence elsewhere after the Saints made the decision to release him Friday, Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com tweets.

The former Patriots third-round pick established a niche for himself as a backup and special-teamer with the Bengals and Bills over the past several seasons, but the Saints did not view the 30-year-old performer as vital enough to retain — at least not at the moment.

Tate signed with the Saints late in the offseason, joining Michael Floyd in that regard. The Saints drafted Tre’Quan Smith in the third round and added Cameron Meredith and Tanner McEvoy, making room in their receiver room scarce. They cut ties with Brandon Coleman earlier this offseason as well.

Serving primarily as a return specialist, Tate’s logged 126 NFL games. He served as Buffalo’s primary kick- and punt-return specialist for the past two seasons.

Saints GM Discusses Potential Bridgewater Extension

August 30th, 2018 at 8:00pm CST by Ben Levine

When Teddy Bridgewater was traded to the Saints yesterday, some pundits wondered whether the 26-year-old would take over as the starter once Drew Brees decided to call it a career. However, general manager Mickey Loomis cautioned that the team isn’t in any hurry to extend the quarterback, who is currently playing on a one-year deal.

“Well, I think it’s one step at a time,” Loomis said (via Josh Katzenstein of The Times-Picayune on Twitter). “The first step is getting him here and getting to know him as a player and as a person and vice versa.”

The general manager also said it was “premature” to assume Bridgewater would be the heir apparent to Brees.

Of course, Loomis presumably doesn’t want to count his chickens before they hatch, but we can probably assume that the Saints traded for Bridgewater thinking he’d one day take over the starting gig. After all, New Orleans sent the Jets a third-rounder, which seems to be the going rate for a lower-end starting quarterback (the Browns sent the Bills a third for Tyrod Taylor). While the Saints also received a sixth-rounder in the trade, they presumably wouldn’t have given up valuable draft capital if they didn’t envision a future with Bridgewater.

Secondly, the team’s other backup quarterbacks haven’t shown a whole lot of promise during their NFL careers. With Drew Brees approaching his 40th birthday, the organization probably didn’t feel good about a potential future with Tom Savage, J.T. Barrett, or Taysom Hill under center.

At the very least, Bridgewater has already shown that he can be a competent NFL quarterback, and he seems to be recovered from a knee injury that forced him to miss the 2016 season and most of the 2017 campaign. In three preseason games, Bridgewater has completed 73.7-percent of his passes for 316 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/29/18

August 29th, 2018 at 3:08pm CST by Zachary Links

We don’t dance now, we make minor moves:

Cincinnati Bengals

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

New Orleans Saints

San Francisco 49ers

Glennon, Other QBs Drawing Trade Interest

August 29th, 2018 at 2:09pm CST by Zachary Links

On Wednesday morning, the Packers traded Brett Hundley to the Seahawks. That deal is unlikely to be the last trade involving a backup quarterback, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Mike Glennon of the Cardinals, Tom Savage of the Saints, and Joshua Dobbs are the Steelers are among the QBs being discussed by teams of need, Rapoport hears. 

The Cardinals signed both Sam Bradford and Glennon in March, but the QB room changed dramatically in April when they drafted UCLA star Josh Rosen. Rosen may not be ready for primetime, but the Cardinals may feel that he is ready to be a capable No. 2 QB. Glennon flamed out in his one month as the Bears’ starter last year, but he would represent a QB2 upgrade for many teams around the league.

Savage has been long rumored to be on the bubble, but he is now firmly on the trade block following the Saints’ acquisition of Teddy Bridgewater. The Saints project to move ahead with Bridgewater and Taysom Hill as the backups to Drew Brees, leaving Savage without a spot in New Orleans. Savage, a former fourth-round pick out of Pittsburgh, entered the 2017 season as Houston’s starter, but he lost the job to rookie Deshaun Watson rather quickly. He finished the year with 1,412 yards and five touchdowns against six interceptions.

The writing has been on the wall for Dobbs ever since the Steelers used a third-round pick on Mason Rudolph in this year’s draft. Landry Jones is locked in as the backup quarterback and Rudolph is locked in as the No. 3, so Dobbs is clearly on the block.

Jets Trade Teddy Bridgewater To Saints

August 29th, 2018 at 1:46pm CST by Zachary Links

The Saints have acquired quarterback Teddy Bridgewater from the Jets, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The Jets will send Bridgewater and a sixth-round pick to the Saints for a third-round pick, sources tell Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). 

Bridgewater, who doesn’t turn 26 until November, joined the Jets in March on a one-year deal. Now, he’ll serve as the primary backup to Drew Brees in New Orleans. It’s not immediately clear what the trade means for Taysom Hill, who is under contract through 2019, or Tom Savage, who is on a one-year deal with the club. In all likelihood, Savage is on the verge of being released or traded.

For the Jets, the move signals a tremendous amount of confidence in rookie quarterback Sam Darnold. It’s likely that Darnold will be the team’s Week 1 starter, despite a tough early schedule, with veteran Josh McCown as his understudy.

Bridgewater may be a better quarterback than McCown in 2018, but McCown wouldn’t have fetched much in a trade due to his one-year, $10MM contract. The Jets also value McCown’s veteran leadership and mentorship to Darnold.

Jets players were notified of the trade on Wednesday afternoon when they were on the team bus, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (Twitter link) hears. Just before they were about to depart, Bridgewater was informed of the trade and said goodbye to his teammates.

Bridgewater has impressed this offseason and shown no ill effects of the devastating injury that wiped out his 2016 campaign. In two years as the Vikings’ starter, Bridgewater completed 65% of his passes and averaged 3,075 yards, 14 touchdowns, and ten interceptions.

In three preseason games this year, Bridgewater has completed 28-of-38 throws (73.7%) for 316 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/21/18

August 21st, 2018 at 1:47pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

  • Re-signed: T Leon Johnson

Houston Texans

  • Signed: CB Bryce Jones
  • Waived/injured: CB Josh Thornton

Jacksonville Jaguars

Minnesota Vikings

  • Signed: C Jacob Judd
  • Claimed off waivers: RB Luke McNitt

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Oakland Raiders

  • Claimed off waivers: CB Antwuan Davis (Lions)
  • Waived/injured: CB Tevin Mitchel

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Signed: TE Matt Weiser
  • Waived/injured: TE Colin Jeter

Tennessee Titans

 

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