Two fan favorites are on their way to new endeavors after the New Orleans Saints reached injury settlements with running back Devin Neal and edge rusher Mike Heldman.
Neal, entering his second year with the Saints, has had a whirlwind of an offseason. He entered the conversation as the potential second running back behind star back Alvin Kamara before the arrival of veteran Travis Etienne Jr. changed that for the back.
He had to navigate some recurring hamstring injuries throughout the offseason, saw competition from back Audric Estime, watched the team trade for rusher Zamir White, and then was placed on season-ending injured reserve when the roster was being cut down to 53 players.
Meanwhile, Heldman had an impressive debut against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first week of the preseason. He then fell out of the spotlight before suffering an injury in his final preseason matchup with Dallas.
The edge rusher’s placement on injured reserve (IR) was initially expected to grant him an opportunity to earn a roster spot in New Orleans in 2027. But now, Heldman and Neal will get their chances to go elsewhere in search of chances to return to the field much sooner than a season from now.
The injury settlement pays out an agreed upon amount of money based on the expected return timeline of an injury. Hypothetically, if each player’s medical consensus was that they would miss six weeks because of injury rather than the season-long IR appointment, they’d be paid for six of their 18 weeks of game checks.
The move toward an injury settlement results in a lump-sum payment for both players relative to their expected time missed and an immediate chance to join another team in free agency.
Meanwhile, the Saints avoid paying a year-long salary for both players while they are unavailable to them on the injury list.
Both players can potentially return to the Saints, but will have to wait until after the settlement length has run its course, plus an additional three weeks in order for that to be an option. An NFL rule was put in place to insure that teams won’t abuse injury settlements and IR appointments.
It’s rare that players return to the team with which they agreed upon a settlement. So, Saints fans should prepare to see Neal and Heldman join one of the 31 other teams, either by being added to their active roster or practice squad.
