One of three star offensive players for the Horned Frogs last year, new Saints rookie running back Kendre Miller was unable to finish the season with his fellow stars, quarterback Max Duggan and wide receiver Quentin Johnston, after suffering a knee injury in the team’s semifinal win over Michigan. Despite needing surgery to correct the knee injury, Miller expects to be 100 percent healthy by camp, according to Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football.
Miller was dominant during his final season in Fort Worth, racking up 1,399 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns. The game against the Wolverines that saw him leave early was the only contest of the season in which he failed to cross the goal line. His absence in TCU’s season finale against Georgia likely contributed to the team’s embarrassing championship loss.
Miller’s MCL was only injured and not torn, but the knee requiring surgery was a note of concern as it held him out of any pre-draft workouts. Luckily, it appears that the ailment won’t preclude him from getting some preseason work with his teammates in New Orleans. It’s not as if it matters too much, though, since Miller is set to join a loaded Saints running backs room.
Miller won’t be required to be an immediate contributor as Alvin Kamara and Jamaal Williams put New Orleans in a stellar situation to start the year. With Kamara and Williams both under contract through 2025, the Saints have an embarrassment of riches and will have plenty of time to allow Miller to develop without working too much tread off of his tires.
Here are a few more rumors coming out of NOLA:
- Nearly two weeks ago, the Saints added former Raiders tight end Foster Moreau, rejoining him with quarterback Derek Carr in New Orleans. Thanks to ESPN’s Field Yates, we now have a few more details on the new deal. The three-year, $12.23MM contract has a guaranteed amount of $8.02MM consisting of a $3.5MM signing bonus, Moreau’s 2023 base salary of $1.1MM, and his 2024 base salary of $3.42MM. Thanks to two void years tacked on to the end of the deal, Moreau’s cap hit in 2023 will only be $1.8MM. In the final two years of the deal, Moreau will receive a per game active roster bonus of $16,470 for a potential season total of $280K. The team also built in a potential out after the 2024 season that will allow them to avoid $8.3MM in cap hit while taking on no dead cap.
- The Saints were able to sign fourth-round offensive tackle Nick Saldiveri to his four-year rookie contract a little over a week ago. An interesting detail about the signing is apparent in the deal’s value. As the top pick of the fourth round, Saldiveri already was set for an impressive contract. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, though, the team ended up giving him a deal worth $63K more than the amount designated for that draft slot.
- New Orleans made an addition to its player personnel staff this week, promoting Tosan Eyetsemitan to the role of pro scout, according to Neil Stratton of SucceedinFootball.com. Eyetsemitan served previously in the role of football administration associate. This will be his third year with the Saints after four years in Cleveland.