New Orleans Saints Rumors & News - Pro Football Rumors

Saints’ Alex Okafor Out For Season

November 20th, 2017 at 9:15am CST by Zachary Links

Alex Okafor‘s season is over. The Saints defensive end suffered a torn Achilles on Sunday that will sideline him for the remainder of the year, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (Twitter link).

Okafor joined the Saints on a one-year, $3MM deal this offseason and it turned out to be one of the best one-year contracts in the NFL, as detailed recently by PFR’s Dallas Robinson. In ten games, the 26-year-old racked up 43 total tackles and 4.5 sacks – both representing career highs. He currently ranks as Pro Football Focus’ No. 16 ranked edge defender with an 84.7 overall score. His work in 486 snaps has him slotted ahead of big names such as Cameron Wake, Jadeveon Clowney, Chandler Jones, Clay Matthews, and Brian Orakpo. That’s not too shabby for a $3MM investment.

Of course, the trade deadline has come and gone, so the Saints can only look to the free agent market for potential out-of-house upgrades. Jason Jones spent some time with New Orleans during training camp, so he could be a possible fit thanks to his familiarity with the system. It’s not clear if free agents Jared Odrick and Mario Williams are looking to continue their careers, but Tyson Jackson and Jaye Howard, have been hitting the workout circuit hard in recent weeks.

Internally, the Saints could lean more heavily on third-round rookie Trey Hendrickson and sixth-round pick Al-Quadin Muhammad to pick up the slack.

Vaccaro Tweets That He'll Be Back Next Week

November 19th, 2017 at 10:04pm CST by GregGoldstein

The Saints pulled off a tremendous comeback win when they came back from 15 points down to beat the Redskins in overtime to win their eighth straight game. Safety Kenny Vaccaro made a note of the winning streak on his personal Twitter account today and also made the proclamation that he would be ready to return for the team’s game vs. the Rams next Sunday (Twitter link). The news should be taken with a grain of salt considering the team’s doctors haven’t cleared him to return, but it’s certainly a positive development for New Orleans who have had to be without their starting safety for the past two weeks as he’s been recovering from a groin injury.

Saints Extend Assistant GM Jeff Ireland

November 19th, 2017 at 1:26pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Saints have reached a contract extension with assistant general manager/director of college scouting Jeff Ireland, sources tell Nick Underhill of the Advocate.

Ireland, who has worked in NFL personnel offices since 1994, previously served as the Dolphins’ general manager from 2008-13. New Orleans hired him in January 2015, and Ireland began fully contributing to the club’s draft preparations in 2016, per Underhill. The Saints have nailed a number of draft picks over the past two years, adding talented player such as Michael Thomas, Vonn Bell, Marshon Lattimore, Ryan Ramczyk, and Alvin Kamara since 2016.

Ireland’s previous contract was set to expire after the 2017 campaign, per Underhill. While his new deal won’t prevent other NFL teams from contacting Ireland about general manager vacancies, it will ensure that he remains with the Saints if a GM offer doesn’t come.

Could Saints Be Landing Spot For Tyrod Taylor?

November 19th, 2017 at 9:21am CST by Rory Parks

Indeed, aside from the $6MM roster bonus, Taylor is owed a fairly modest $10MM base salary, and it’s not as if the free agent QB market is likely to set the world on fire. Plus, there will be plenty of teams who are unable to address their QB needs in the draft. La Canfora names the Jaguars, Broncos, Cardinals, and Saints as potential landing spots for Taylor, and he says the Bills will be doing their own homework on the 2018 quarterback draft class. He also says the Bills could continue to look to trade Cordy Glenn this offseason.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/18/17

November 18th, 2017 at 5:11pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are today’s minor moves.

Green Bay Packers

Signed: FB Joe Kerridge

New Orleans Saints

Signed: LB Adam Bighill
Waived: T Bryce Harris

Saints Lineman Have Returned Early From Injury

November 17th, 2017 at 8:26pm CST by GregGoldstein

The Saints have been one of the hottest teams in football winning their last seven games after dropping their first two at the start of the regular season. A big reason for this has been the emergence of arguably the league’s best 1-2 backfield punch that includes veteran Mark Ingram and rookie Alvin Kamara. However, Joel Erickson of the New Orleans Advocate notes that the team has been helped by some notable early returns on their offensive line. Erickson states that three of the team’s starting lineman have returned sooner than expected, including guard Larry Warford, center Max Unger and left tackle Terron Armstead. Warford returned this past Sunday from an abdominal strain, missing only two games, Unger progressed ahead of schedule from offseason Lisfranc surgery and Armstead’s return was premature after suffering a torn labrum. All three lineman have helped the Saints offense change it’s identity to a more ground and pound style, which has been on full display in the past seven weeks.

Details On Jonathan Williams' Deal

November 16th, 2017 at 1:21pm CST by Zachary Links

To incentivize running back Jonathan Williams to sign to their active roster, the Saints gave him a $50K signing bonus, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. Recently, Williams left the Broncos’ practice squad to join up with the Saints on a two-year deal. He also turned down a similar opportunity with the Falcons. It’s also worth mentioning that the second year of his deal also includes a $25K workout bonus (Twitter link via Nick Underhill of The Advocate).

Latest On Saints' Hiring Of Mike Westhoff

November 15th, 2017 at 8:24pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Before he decided to sign with the Saints, running back Jonathan Williams was also offered a contract by the Falcons, New Orleans head coach Sean Payton told reporters, including Josh Katzenstein of the Times-Picayune (Twitter link). Williams had been earning $30K weekly (nearly an active roster rate) while on the Broncos’ practice squad, but he jumped at the chance to be placed on the Saints’ 53-man squad. Atlanta needed another running back while Devonta Freeman deals with a concussion, and it ultimately signed Terrence Magee of the Browns’ taxi squad.
New Saints special teams assistant Mike Westhoff wasn’t looking to get back into coaching, but New Orleans presented him with an appealing opportunity. “I don’t want to regret something I didn’t try,” he told Brian Costello of the New York Post (Twitter link). Westhoff added his new role isn’t a long-term gig, and he’ll only coach for this season. The Saints have struggled on special teams for the past two-plus years, a track record that forced the club to hire a new ST coach (Brad Banta) this offseason. However, New Orleans ranks 27th in special teams DVOA through 10 weeks.

Saints Add Mike Westhoff To Staff

November 15th, 2017 at 1:21pm CST by Zachary Links

The Saints are beefing up their coaching staff midway through the season. Special teams guru Mike Westhoff is joining New Orleans on the sideline, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link).

The Saints currently have Bradford Banta as their Special Teams Coordinator with Kevin O’Dea and Deuce Schwartz as his top assistant. It’s not immediately clear if any of those three men will be displaced by Westhoff’s arrival or whether they will now be reporting to him.

Westhoff, 69, has built a reputation over the years as one of the league’s most knowledgeable special teams coaches. After serving as the Dolphins’ special teams and tight ends coach from 1986-2000, he joined the Jets in 2001. He retired after the 2012 season, but the coaching itch apparently has not subsided.

The Saints are atop the NFC South with a 7-2 record. Next up for New Orleans is a home contest against the Redskins on Sunday.