Even though most of the New Orleans Saints’ roster looked to be settled throughout training camp and the preseason, the initial 53-player roster wasn’t without surprises and unexpected twists.
Three quarterbacks, some shifts on the offensive line and a surprise in the secondary are all among the biggest takeaways from the Saints’ initial roster following cutdowns.
Three Quarterbacks
Logistically, this was what made the most sense for New Orleans, keeping all three of their top quarterbacks. Though a number of prognosticators expected different thanks to the team’s raging “QB2” battle.
New Orleans ultimately elected to keep starting Tyler Shough and backups Spencer Rattler and Zach Wilson. They also waived Hunter Dekkers at the position, who is expected to return to the team’s practice squad.
While there isn’t clarity yet on which passer, Rattler or Wilson, is the primary backup, the team’s decision will allow them to take advantage of the league’s emergency third quarterback rule and will provide Shough with both a former starter from the same system and veteran player to support his development.
The emergency third quarterback rule allows an inactive passer from the 53-player roster to be called upon in the event that the gameday starting and backup quarterbacks are made unavailable during a game.
There was a brief push to allow this third quarterback to come from the practice squad, but that was ultimately vetoed by the NFL Players Association. That player is required to come from the active roster.
Simpkins Waived
The player that was long assumed to be the primary backup center for the Saints ended up waived during roster cuts. Because there will be a lot of new moves on the way for the team (waiver claims, potential trades, injury transactions and more), there’s a chance that offensive lineman Torricelli Simpkins III finds his way back to the roster or practice squad.
The Saints are currently holding only eight offensive linemen on their roster, which is too concerningly low a number to expect that they are finished at the position headed into the season.
Shakeup In The Secondary
Seeing two veteran defensive backs, cornerback Isaac Yiadom and safety Terrell Burgess, released was a bit of a surprise. However, veterans released at roster cuts are often done with a plan in mind.
Players with less than four accrued NFL seasons are subject to waivers and therefore can be claimed by teams based on the waiver priority order (the same as the NFL Draft order). However, veteran players with four or more seasons under their belt bypass waivers and can make their own decisions about where they would like to sign.
This is often procedurally taken advantage of to sneak younger players onto the initial 53 before assigning them to injury lists or attempting to sneak them through waivers at a later time.
Burgess appears to be the most likely of the two to return to the club. It’s no mystery that Yiadom struggled this offseason. The decision to keep second-year versatile defensive back Mike Reid on the roster helps to solidify that expectation as well.
Wide Receiver Room Has Promise
It will take a little while before rookie wideout Jordyn Tyson gets his chance to contribute, but the group of five that New Orleans has kept is encouraging.
Chris Olave and Devaughn Vele will begin the season as the top options at the position. But not to be overlooked, the remaining rookie tandem of Bryce Lance and Barion Brown are set to become early contributors.
But the third wide receiver early in the season is likely to be Kevin Austin Jr.
Often overlooked in the room, Austin is considered inside of the facility as the most unheralded player at the position and he is appreciated as one of the hardest workers in the process. He can line up and run routes from all three wide receiver spots, block and do a lot of the uncelebrated things that make offenses successful.
Austin serves as proof that flashy moments will get you attention, but grit and dirty work will get you a job in the league.
Still Work To Be Done
Along with the continued shifting and reorganization of the roster over the coming days, NFL waivers are awarded at 12:00 p.m. CT on Monday.
Cornerback, offensive line, linebacker and defensive tackle are all among the positions New Orleans could look to address.
Though at different points of the season, the waiver wire was a successful venture for the Saints last season. They used the acquisition path to land depth along with rotational, in some cases contributing, talent to the team last year with signings like offensive lineman Xavier Truss, running back Audric Estime and tight end Zaire Mitchell-Paden.
