Malcolm Roach

Saints To Add S Johnathan Abram, Re-Sign DT Malcolm Roach

The Saints are shoring up their defense. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler (via Twitter), safety Johnathan Abram is planning to sign with the Saints. Meanwhile, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero tweets that defensive tackle Malcolm Roach is planning to re-sign with the Saints.

After missing most of his rookie season, Abram showed some of his first-round pedigree in 2020 and 2021. After finishing with 86 tackles in 13 starts in 2020, he collected 116 tackles with the Raiders in 2021. After having his fifth-year option declined last offseason, Abram was let go after starting six of his eight appearances for Las Vegas. He had a brief stint in Green Bay before ending the campaign with the Seahawks.

Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams will continue to lead the safeties depth chart, with the Saints also retaining Ryan Neal and signing former Giants defensive back Julian Love. Abram will have to fight for every snap in that secondary, but at the very least, he should be able to contribute on special teams.

Roach has spent his entire three-year career in New Orleans. He had his most productive season in 2022, finishing with 26 tackles and one sack in 13 games (three starts). ESPN’s Katherine Terrell tweets that Roach is inking a one-year deal with the Saints.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/5/22

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

Philadelphia Eagles

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

A number of players who were placed on IR after the preseason and prior to the regular season returned to practice today. These players will have a three-week practice window until they have to be activated to the active roster. Otherwise, they’ll be ineligible to return this season.

One of the most surprising returns is Cardinals cornerback Antonio Hamilton. The former undrafted free agent rode a strong preseason to a potential starting gig, but he was sidelined with second-degree burns after spilling hot oil on his legs and feet. Kliff Kingsbury previously said an early-October return may be a “little aggressive” (per ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss on Twitter), but the cornerback ended up working his way back to practice.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/1/22

Teams continue to tinker with their rosters after hundreds of players were cut earlier this week. We’ve tracked all of today’s minor moves below:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/12/22

A number of players continue to sign reserve/futures contracts, which allows organizations to retain (mostly) young, practice squad players throughout the offseason. We’ve compiled today’s reserve/futures contracts below:

Atlanta Falcons

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

  • DE Jonathan Kongbo

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

New Orleans Saints

Minnesota Vikings

  • G Kyle Hinton

New York Jets

Washington Football Team

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/11/22

A number of players continue to sign reserve/futures contracts, which allows organizations to retain (mostly) young, practice squad players throughout the offseason. We’ve compiled today’s reserve/futures contracts below:

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/8/22

Here are Saturday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

NFL COVID-19 List Updates: 1/1/22

Here are the New Year’s Day activations from and placements on the reserve/COVID-19 lists:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

  • Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: G Oli Udoh

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

  • Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: CB Bryce Hall

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

NFL COVID List Updates: 12/25-12/26/21

We’ve compiled a list of players who were placed on or activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list on Christmas and today. In some instances, players activated from the list remain on IR:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Placed on practice squad/COVID-19 list: WR Steven Sims

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/9/21

Here are Thursday’s practice squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Buffalo Bills

Detroit Lions

  • Signed: T Darrin Paulo

Los Angeles Rams

New Orleans Saints

San Francisco 49ers

Saints Waive Kenny Stills

The Saints have released wide receiver Kenny Stills and defensive tackle Malcolm Roach, per the league’s transactions wire. Meanwhile, the Saints have re-signed wide receiver Kevin White to their practice squad.

Stills, 29, has been on and off the Saints roster this year. So far this season, he’s got five catches for 64 yards across ten games. Of course, that’s a far cry from his early work in New Orleans, which included 931 yards in 2014, his second year as a pro.

It’s a bit of a surprise that the Saints would be bailing on receivers at this point. We learned yesterday that Deonte Harris would miss the next three games while serving a suspension, and former All-Pro Michael Thomas has already been ruled out for the season. Tre’Quan Smith also missed time due to injury, and New Orleans hasn’t played with Alvin Kamara since Week 9.

Roach joined the Saints as an undrafted free agent out of Texas in 2020, and he collected 16 tackles in nine games as a rook. This year, he’s started two of his six games while compiling seven tackles and one interception. The 23-year-old has only appeared in one game for New Orleans since Week 5. After recently spending time on IR, the defensive tackle was designated to return earlier this week.

White, the seventh-overall pick in the 2015 draft, battled injuries throughout his Bears tenure and later caught on with the Cardinals and 49ers. He managed to get into three games with San Francisco last season without recording a reception, and he ended up getting cut by the squad in August. He ultimately caught on with New Orleans, and he ended up seeing time in five games (one start) for his new squad. The 29-year-old contributed one 38-yard reception during his time with the Saints, and he ultimately saw more special teams snaps than offensive snaps. He was cut by the team last week.