Shaq Davis

Saints Place RB Kendre Miller On IR, Reduce Squad To 53

Here is how the Saints moved their roster down to the regular-season 53-man limit:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

Placed on IR/return designation:

Placed on reserve/PUP list:

A host of vested vets are off the Saints’ roster, and Miller will be for a stretch as well. Miller has been down with a hamstring injury for several weeks, suffering the setback minutes into the team’s initial training camp workout. This lingering into the regular season is a concerning development for both parties. Hamstring trouble limited Miller late last summer as well. The Saints still roster Jamaal Williams behind Alvin Kamara, but they used a third-round pick on Miller last year. The TCU alum logged 41 carries as a rookie, but a new OC (Klint Kubiak) is now calling the shots.

Kpassagnon sustained an Achilles tear early this offseason, and he will miss at least four games. Rookie UDFA Mason Tipton made the roster over St. Brown, while offseason pickup Will Harris secured a spot over Abram. The Saints kept Lucas Patrick and Oli Udoh over Davis and Lemieux, who had been attempting to bounce back from an injury-plagued Giants tenure.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/12/24

Here are Monday’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals

  • Activated from active/PUP: DT Devonnsha Maxwell

Cleveland Browns

  • Signed: LB Brandon Bouyer-Randle, S Chase Williams
  • Released: RB John Kelly
  • Waived: DE Marcus Haynes
  • Waived/injured: CB Vincent Gray

Denver Broncos

  • Claimed (from Giants): DB Kaleb Hayes
  • Waived: ILB Alec Mock

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

  • Signed: LB Anthony Hines, TE Neal Johnson
  • Waived: LB Jimmy Ciarlo, CB Myles Jones

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Claimed (from Ravens): OL Tykeem Doss
  • Waived/injured: DB Kalon Barnes

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Hernia surgery forced Tampa to the Ravens’ active/PUP list, but the fourth-round pick is ready to return. Needing a double hernia operation after minicamp (per The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec), Tampa is unlikely to be ready for practice until at least next week. By avoiding a move to the reserve/PUP list, Tampa is no longer at risk of missing Baltimore’s first four games.

A rookie UDFA, Murphy went down with an MCL injury, per NFL.com’s Cameron Wolfe. The Dolphins signed Brown, a four-year Giants special-teamer and backup presence, in April. While the Dolphins continue to deal with linebacker injuries, they did bring Jaelan Phillips off the PUP list today.

Fromm spent most of the past two seasons with the Commanders, but the team — as it transitions to a new regime — cut the former Georgia passer in May. He joins a Lions team that still rosters Nate Sudfeld along with Jared Goff and Hendon Hooker.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/7/24

Wednesday’s minor moves:

Cincinnati Bengals

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Miami Dolphins

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Claimed off waivers (from Commanders): TE Armani Rogers
  • Waived: WR Shaq Davis

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Commanders

The Packers apparently felt it necessary to add another competitor to their position battle at kicker today, signing Hale out of Oklahoma State. The former walk-on from Australia hit on 43 of his 54 field goal attempts as a Cowboy in Stillwater.

Following the retirement of Tarik Cohen, the Jets opted to sign Jackson. The former Colts rusher had some big moments in 2022 while filling in for an injured Jonathan Taylor. He and Vaughn were both participants in a recent workout with the Texans, but Cam Akers walked away from that day with the job.

Lastly, Owens’, son of NFL legend Terrell Owens, time with one of his father’s former teams has come to an end. His pedigree may have assisted in landing an opportunity as an undrafted free agent in San Francisco, but he was unable to stay rostered throughout camp.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/18/24

Here are Thursday’s reserve/futures deals:

Los Angeles Rams

  • K Tanner Brown

Philadelphia Eagles

Washington Commanders

  • WR Brycen Tremayne

Saints Officially Set 53-Man Roster

The Saints welcomed back some old faces and said goodbye to others on their way towards setting their initial 53-man roster. Here are the moves the team made in their efforts to select the team they will open the season with:

Released:

Waived:

The veteran tight end James will have to continue his recent tour of the NFL. He, Holtz, and Krull fell victim to the reunion of New Orleans and former All-Pro Jimmy Graham.

On defense, Smith failed to make the roster after starting 11 games for the Giants last year. Roby is another player who was initially expected to contribute, but will have to pack up his locker.

With the emergence of rookie third-round pick Kendre Miller and the eventual return of Alvin Kamara, keeping Williams in the running backs room just wasn’t worth the roster spot.

On special teams, the third-year punter Gillikin lost the punting battle with undrafted rookie signee out of Miami (FL) Lou Hedley. The viral, jacked, tatted-up, Australian, 30-year-old rookie punter makes his first NFL roster as part of the Saints’ new-look special teams group.

Saints Announce 11-Man UDFA Class

The Saints have announced an 11-man UDFA class after drafting seven players over the course of the last three days. Here are the undrafted talents who will begin their pursuit of an NFL job with New Orleans:

Two of the above players, Davis and Orji, received guarantees in excess of $200K, as Greg Auman of FOX Sports tweets.

Davis has the size (6-5, 217 lbs.) and length that could allow him to find success in the pros, and he showed off serious big-play ability at the collegiate level, averaging roughly 20.4 yards per catch over four years at South Carolina State. That included 45 catches for 934 yards and 11 TDs in 2022.

That production, however, came against FCS competition. While the size of Davis’ guarantee indicates he was a priority signing, there are elements of his game — like his issue with drops — that he will need to clean up in order to have a shot at cracking the roster.

Orji, meanwhile, was a three-year starter for the SEC’s Commodores, as well as a team captain. Despite averaging nearly 100 total tackles and 10 tackles for loss over the past two seasons, he also missed a lot of tackles and does not have the speed that would make him an elite defender in today’s NFL. Still, there was a chance that he would hear his name called on Day 3 of the draft, and he should have a decent chance of sticking as a backup defender or special teamer.