Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
By Ross Jackson
It wasn’t too long ago that the New Orleans Saints’ roster was one that would see two or more undrafted free agent rookies land a spot on the initial 53 following cutdowns.
That may now be a symbol of the past regime.
The Saints’ new leadership showed several examples of walking in its own path rather than following in previous footsteps with its construction of the initial 53-man roster.
New Orleans kept just two quarterbacks on its roster, parted ways with several of the previous regime’s draft picks and only kept a single 2025 priority free agent: offensive lineman Torricelli Simpkins III.
Punter Kai Kroger made the roster as well, but he signed with the Saints as a free agent later in camp rather than as a part of the initial undrafted rookie pool following the 2025 NFL Draft.
Simpkins wasn’t lauded very much upon being signed. The former South Carolina and North Carolina Central offensive lineman soared under the radar for the first few weeks. That is, until he was thrust into a featured role as the team’s center just three plays into his first preseason game. He would go on to take 156 total offensive snaps at the position across all three exhibition games.
During those snaps, he did not allow a single sack and allowed just four pressures, per Pro Football Focus (PFF). His 104 (114, per PFF) pass blocking snaps were the most by a rookie without allowing a sack throughout the preseason.
Rookies who played the most pass protection snaps without allowing a sack this preseason:
● Torricelli Simpkins III, NO – 109
● Vershon Lee, MIN – 97
● Sal Wormley, JAX – 96
● Marcus Mbow, NYG – 86
● Easton Kilty, NO – 85
● Luke Newman, CHI – 84
● Josh Kaltenberger, LAC… pic.twitter.com/SY3xrblX0X— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) August 24, 2025
Altogether, Simpkins simply left the Saints no choice but to keep him on the roster, thus making him the lone priority free agent to make this year’s group.
