New Orleans Saints Rumors & News - Pro Football Rumors

Saints Want Ramczyk Or Barnes To Win Left Tackle Job

July 25th, 2017 at 9:55pm CST by Dallas Robinson

With left tackle Terron Armstead is set to miss a portion of the 2017 season after undergoing labrum surgery, the Saints would prefer to place Ryan Ramczyk or Khalif Barnes on the blindside instead of shifting Andrus Peat from left guard, according to Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com. Barnes is the far more experienced option, as the 35-year-old has appeared in 151 games (117) starts during 11-year NFL career. Ramczyk, on the other hand, was just selected with the final pick of the first round in the 2017 draft. Peat, meanwhile, played left tackle at Stanford and has split time between tackle and guard with New Orleans.

Entering his third season as the Bears‘ general manager, Ryan Pace is building the Chicago roster in the mold of the Saints, the club with which Pace spent most of his career prior to heading to the Windy City, as Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. Pace and the rest of the Chicago front office is clearly hoping No. 2 overall selection Mitch Trubisky turns into the next Drew Brees, but other points of comparison are apt, as well. Second-round tight end Adam Shaheen could have the game-breaking ability of a Jimmy Graham, while fourth-round running back Tarik Cohen may prove to be a passing game weapon like Darren Sproles.

Saints Working Out LB Bryan Braman

July 25th, 2017 at 9:30pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Special-teams maven Bryan Braman recently worked out for the Saints, as his agent Sean Stellato tells Mike Triplett of ESPN.com.

Braman, 30, has appeared in 94 career games since entering the league as an undrafted free agent out of West Texas A&M in 2011, but has never started a contest. His core responsibilities have come on special teams with both the Texans (2011-14) and the Eagles (2014-16). Last year, for example, Braman played only three defensive snaps for Philadelphia, but saw action on 82.3% of the club’s special teams plays.

The Saints were extremely poor on special teams in 2016 (27th in DVOA), and have since replaced their special teams coordinator, hiring Brad Banta to replace Greg McMahon. Per Football Outsiders, New Orleans’ was particularly lacking on kick returns, as the club lost eight points of field position on such plays (30th in the NFL).

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/25/17

July 25th, 2017 at 7:38pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Today’s minor moves:

The Saints have signed free agent Kristjan Sokoli, who will play as an offensive lineman, according to his agent Brett Tessler (Twitter link). Sokoli, a collegiate defender at Buffalo, was a 2010 draft choice of the Seahawks, who contemplated moving him to the offensive side of the ball. After playing only special teams for Seattle, Sokoli spent the 2016 season with the Colts (mostly on the practice squad) as a defensive end. In New Orleans, Sokoli will compete for a reserve interior line spot behind Andrus Peat and Larry Warford. The Saints have also signed cornerback Dejaun Butler, per the league’s transaction wire, and offensive lineman Martin Wallace, as his agent Paul Sheehy of ProStar Sports tweets.

Saints Place LB Dannell Ellerbe On IR

July 25th, 2017 at 3:10pm CST by Zachary Links

The Saints are placing linebacker Dannell Ellerbe on IR, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Once the veteran heals up from his foot injury, he’ll be waived by New Orleans.

Ellerbe has struggled to stay healthy over the last three seasons, but he has shown that he can still be a difference maker when he is on the field. In 2016, Ellerbe tallied 44 total tackles and 4.0 sacks for the Saints across nine games. This year, he was expected to compete for the Saints’ starting weakside linebacker job. Now, we could see either rookie Alex Anzalone or the returning Hau’oli Kikaha on the first unit.

Per the terms of his restructured deal, it is believed that Ellerbe’s $1.7MM base salary for 2017 is fully guaranteed and his roster bonus of $750K is guaranteed for injury.

Since 2014, injuries have limited Ellerbe to just 16 total games.

Michael Mauti Re-Signs With Saints

July 24th, 2017 at 7:13pm CST by Ben Levine

Michael Mauti will be back with the Saints next season. According to Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com, the linebacker and special teams ace has signed a one-year contract with the team. The 27-year-old will earn a $775K base salary, with $125K guaranteed and a $80K signing bonus.

Throughout the offseason, it sounded like that Mauti would ultimately return to New Orleans. Back in April, head coach Sean Payton said that he expected the linebacker to be fully recovered from offseason surgery by the time training camp came around, even though Mauti was still a free agent at the time. Despite the optimism, Mauti worked out for the Texans late last week (via Katzenstein), but a workout with the Saints earlier today ultimately led to a new contract.

Mauti was forced to undergo three surgeries (including one to remove his large intestine) over the past year to fix his ulcerative colitis, a disease that forced him to end his 2016 season prematurely. The former seventh-round pick had to get back into football shape before securing an offer, perhaps explaining why it took so long for the organization to re-sign him.

Following two underwhelming seasons with the Vikings, Mauti has caught on with the Saints over the past two years. The linebacker has compiled 46 tackles and one forced fumble in 24 games (two starts) with New Orleans, and his special teams prowess earned him a role as a captain last season. Mauti will presumably continue to contribute on that unit, as the Saints are currently rostering nine other linebackers.

Saints WR Willie Snead Signs ERFA Tender

July 24th, 2017 at 4:56pm CST by Ben Levine

With training camp set to open this week, it sounds like Saints wideout Willie Snead won’t be among those who are holding out. According to ESPN’s Field Yates (via Twitter), the receiver has signed his exclusive rights free agent tender. The receiver will now be playing on a one-year deal that pays him $615K. According to Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com, the wideout has confirmed that he will not be holding out and will be on the practice field this Thursday.

There were whispers throughout the offseason that Snead and the Saints were working on a long-term contract. Due to the tender, Snead didn’t have the ability to sign with another team, clearly limiting his options. However, the wideout sounded optimistic that the Saints front office and agent Drew Rosenhaus (who he hired in June) would agree on a new contract.

“I think the guys upstairs are working on it,” Snead said. “I’m hopeful, and I just have to keep worrying about myself and staying healthy and doing all the right things. I know it’s going to be a handled, it’s going to take time, but I feel like we’ll get it done sooner or later.”

Snead, an undrafted free agent out of Ball State in 2014, has established himself as one of Drew Brees‘ top targets over the past two season. Between 2015 and 2016, the 24-year-old has appeared in 30 games (12 starts) and compiled 141 receptions for 1,879 yards and seven touchdowns. Following the Brandin Cooks trade, Snead figures to start alongside Michael Thomas and Ted Ginn Jr..

Saints Could Cut Manti Te'o Or Stephone Anthony

July 21st, 2017 at 8:02pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Saints have too many linebackers and not enough spots, which could lead to the ouster of either Manti Te’o or Stephone Anthony, writes Mike Triplett of ESPN.com. Te’o hasn’t even played a down yet for the Saints, who signed him in May, but his two-year, $5MM deal includes just $600K in guarantees. With that in mind, the former Charger will be easy to jettison if he doesn’t impress Saints coaches in the coming weeks. Anthony’s contract, on the other hand, isn’t so team friendly. Cutting him wouldn’t save the Saints any money this year, yet it would leave them with $2.1MM-plus in dead money. While the 24-year-old was a first-round pick of the Saints not long ago, in 2015, he’s coming off a subpar second season that ended after 10 games on account of a knee injury.

Saints Place Two On Non-Football Injury List

July 20th, 2017 at 5:10pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Saints placed Travin Dural and Devaroe Lawrence on the non-football injury list. Dural’s condition is “nothing serious,” Nick Underhill of The Advocate (on Twitter) hears.

Little Pressure For Saints To Extend Drew Brees

July 19th, 2017 at 9:31pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

In theory, Saints quarterback Drew Brees is in the same situation as Cousins. Except, Brees has made it pretty clear that he doesn’t want to play anywhere but New Orleans, as Mike Triplett of ESPN.com writes. The 38-year-old could have become an unrestricted free agent this offseason and cashed in on a weak QB market, but he instead gave up his leverage by signing a one-year, $24.25MM extension just before the 2016 opener. For a morale boost, Triplett thinks the Saints should do the same thing before the 2017 season kicks off. Then again, since Brees hasn’t given the team any real reason to think he’ll bolt in free agency next year, there isn’t a ton of pressure to get that done.

Adrian Peterson On Signing With The Saints

July 11th, 2017 at 11:16am CST by Zachary Links

When the Vikings and Adrian Peterson went their separate ways, things did not play out as expected. Initially, we heard rumblings of potential contenders like the Giants and Seahawks having interest in the veteran. Then, one by one, each of those clubs made it known that they did not want to bring the 32-year-old on board. Eventually, the Saints came into the picture and Peterson came on board, despite the presence of Mark Ingram.

Ingram will continue in his role as the Saints’ lead back while Peterson is in unfamiliar territory as a complementary piece. There are questions about how Peterson will handle his new role and some are even doubting whether he can be effective on the shorter end of a timeshare at this stage of his career.

Recently, Peterson spoke with Dan Pompei of Bleacher Report about the free agent process and his future in New Orleans. Here’s a look at some of the highlights:

On why he did not ask the Saints about how many carries he’ll be getting each game:

“I don’t need all those carries to be my best. I don’t think I became a great player by having to have 20 or 30 carries to get 200 yards. If they feed it to me, hey, I’m going to eat. Whenever I get opportunities, I’ll take advantage of them.”

On changing his game to catch more passes down field;

“I was attracted to playing with Brees, a guy who is good at distributing the ball to different players. I know in this system, I’ll get some opportunities to catch the ball in space. Drew Brees, he’ll get the ball to me.”

On the pitch of coach Sean Payton:

“I loved his honesty. He was straightforward. I could sense he really wanted me to be a part of the organization. All coaches want to win, but you can see it more with him. He’s very passionate about what he does. About 98 percent of the time, he was doing the talking.”

On his motivation:

“Yes, the doubt motivates me. I’d be lying to say it doesn’t. You want to do things people say you can’t do.” “Yes, the doubt motivates me,” Peterson says. “I’d be lying to say it doesn’t. You want to do things people say you can’t do.”

Photo via Pro Football Rumors on Instagram.

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