Report: Saints add OLB Eku Leota to practice squad

By Ross Jackson

METAIRIE, La. – After releasing longtime safety and special teams ace J.T. Gray on Monday, the New Orleans Saints have been actively filling out their practice squad.

Per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, the Saints have signed outside linebacker Eku Leota to their practice squad. Leota was in the running to start opposite pass rusher Jedeveon Clowney last season with the Carolina Panthers and was waived by the Pittsburgh Steelers last week during roster cuts.

New Orleans has been actively signing players that have recently become available, and Leota is the latest following a set of workouts that included former Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Brenden Rice.

During his time at Northwestern and most recently Auburn, Leota was a pass rush specialist. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound edge rusher follows the league’s trend of smaller, quicker speed rushers on defense.

He finished his college career with 15.5 sacks reaching a season high seven sacks in 2021, his first year with Auburn. 

The Saints got to know Leota up close and personal last year as he piled up a sack, three tackles for a loss and a hit on the quarterback in the teams’ Week One matchup to kick off the 2024 season. That sack is the only one of his career thus far.

Here’s Eku Leota’s sack from Sunday vs. NO.

Explosion, pop in hands, and attacks inside shoulder.

This is the #Panthers EDGE2 going forward imo. pic.twitter.com/PUgybGHOA8

— Jared Feinberg (@JRodNFLDraft) September 10, 2024

Leota was picked up as an undrafted free agent by the Panthers in 2023 and joined Pittsburgh’s practice squad partway through last year. 

He joins rookie seventh-rounder Fadil Diggs as the practice squad pass rushers.