Four Saints became free agents this week

Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

By Ross Jackson

Four of the New Orleans Saints’ practice squad players became free agents this week as practice squad contracts around the league expired on Monday.

New Orleans signed eight such players to reserve/future deals earlier this offseason and also added standout Canadian Football League wide receiver Damien Alford to the list days later.

The remaining players that did not receive reserve/future contracts have now seen their agreements expire, sending them to free agency.

Dekkers has already found a landing spot in the UFL spring league where he has been selected by the Houston Gamblers.

The futures of Haener, Miller-Hines and Sewell are all yet to be determined, but out of the trio, the most likely return to New Orleans may be Sewell.

The former Utah linebacker has strong ties to the organization and within the locker room and was a missing piece to the team’s special teams unit, which was one of the more disappointing areas of the team’s 2025 performance.

Miller-Hines contributed to that down special teams performance in his one game as a Saint in the final week of the season, letting a pair of punt returns hit the ground rather than fielding them cleanly. He was quickly replaced as the primary punt returner in that game.

Haener was consistently connected to the team’s offseason quarterback battle, a job that was eventually awarded to rookie star Tyler Shough, but saw just one game as the primary backup on game day in Week 18 while second-year passer Spencer Rattler was out with a right finger injury. He’s a confident and feisty passer that’s incredibly smart and will likely have no trouble finding a new home as backup elsewhere if he doesn’t return to New Orleans.