10:01am: New Orleans confirmed the move, via the team’s website.
9:05am: The Saints auditioned Darryl Tapp last month and look to have seen enough from the veteran defensive end. New Orleans signed Tapp this morning, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter) as likely competition for a potential rotational defensive line job — a capacity the 31-year-old performer is familiar with filling.
To make room for Tapp on their 90-man roster, the Saints cut tight end Jack Tabb, per Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Tapp spent the past two seasons with the Lions on one-year deals, serving as a backup on the edge. He occupied that same role in stints with other NFC teams previously. Tapp’s lone run as a steady starter came for the late-2000s Seahawks before he landed with the Eagles, playing in Philadelphia’s 4-3 scheme from 2010-12, and settled into his second-unit role.
The former second-round pick in 2006 will join his fifth NFC franchise and attempt to latch on with the Saints in a less-conventional manner. He signed with Detroit in March of 2014 and 2015, respectively. Although Tapp hasn’t started more than two games in a season since doing so in 2009 with Seattle, he played in 16 in each of the past two seasons with the Lions and represented a solid run-stopping presence.
Roster Resource details the Saints have a fairly thin group behind Cameron Jordan as they transition back to a 4-3 scheme full-time in an attempt to recover from a nightmare defensive season. Obum Gwacham, Bobby Richardson and third-round pick David Onyemata reside on New Orleans’ roster as possible options opposite Jordan.
Tabb tore his ACL in training camp last year after arriving in New Orleans as a UDFA earlier in 2015.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.