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New Orleans Saints News & Rumors

NFL Cap Space By Team For 2019

September 5th, 2019 at 3:59pm CST by Zachary Links

With hours to go before the start of the 2019 NFL season, here’s a rundown of how much cap room each NFL team has (via ESPN.com’s Field Yates, on Twitter):

  1. Indianapolis Colts – $42.1MM
  2. Cleveland Browns – $32.7MM
  3. Miami Dolphins – $31.9MM
  4. Houston Texans – $29.5MM
  5. Buffalo Bills – $24.8MM
  6. Tennessee Titans – $24.1MM
  7. Dallas Cowboys – $22.3MM
  8. Detroit Lions – $19.2MM
  9. San Francisco 49ers – $18.7MM
  10. Chicago Bears – $17.3MM
  11. Carolina Panthers – $16.6MM
  12. Washington Redskins – $15.9MM
  13. Philadelphia Eagles – $14.8MM
  14. Cincinnati Bengals – $13.3MM
  15. Kansas City Chiefs – $12.4MM
  16. Oakland Raiders – $12MM
  17. Denver Broncos – $11.2MM
  18. Green Bay Packers – $10.8MM
  19. Los Angeles Chargers – $10.2MM
  20. Jacksonville Jaguars – $9.5MM
  21. New York Jets – $9.3MM
  22. Seattle Seahawks – $8.6MM
  23. Baltimore Ravens – $8.2MM
  24. Pittsburgh Steelers – $6.3MM
  25. New England Patriots – $4.9MM
  26. Arizona Cardinals – $2.7MM
  27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – $1.2MM
  28. Minnesota Vikings – $1.2MM
  29. Los Angeles Rams – $852K
  30. New Orleans Saints – $604K
  31. Atlanta Falcons – $493K
  32. New York Giants – $457K

NFL Workout Updates: 9/3/19

September 3rd, 2019 at 9:27pm CST by Rory Parks

Here are today’s workout updates, all courtesy of Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter) unless otherwise noted. The Saints had several recognizable players in for workouts.

Arizona Cardinals (Twitter link via veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer)

Carolina Panthers (Twitter link via Balzer)

Cincinnati Bengals

Detroit Lions

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

  • G Brandon Hitner

Philadelphia Eagles

Washington Redskins (Twitter link via Balzer)

Saints Rookie Carl Granderson Released From Jail, Reinstated

September 3rd, 2019 at 5:13pm CST by Rory Parks

The Saints signed defensive end Carl Granderson as a UDFA in May and gave him a hefty guarantee despite the fact that he had a pending trial for sexual assault charges in July. His attorney and prosecutors reached a plea deal whereby Granderson would have served one year of probation, but a Wyoming judge went against the plea deal and ordered that Granderson immediately begin serving a six-month jail sentence. The Saints subsequently placed Granderson on the Did Not Report list.

Granderson’s attorney moved the court for a reconsideration of the sentence, and as Herbie Teope of NOLA.com reports, a different judge granted the motion. Granderson has been released and will need to serve one year of probation, but he is allowed to join the Saints. Teope — who says the team did a great deal of due diligence on the matter before signing Granderson — also notes that Granderson was reinstated with an Exempt/Commissioner Permission designation. He will not count against the team’s roster for now, and New Orleans will have two weeks to decide what to do with him.

It seems likely that the club will find a place for him on the 53-man roster given the financial commitment to him and given his talent. He almost certainly would have been drafted if not for his legal situation, and he could become a useful part of the Saints’ front seven this year.

As Teope observes, Granderson is not subject to league discipline as the incident that gave rise to the assault charges occurred before Granderson was in the league.

NFL Workouts: 9/2/19

September 2nd, 2019 at 8:32pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

In the wake of all the cuts that have taken place over the past few days, there are a ton of players looking for new homes. Many teams are bringing guys in for tryouts, and we’ll keep track of all of today’s here, all courtesy of veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer (on Twitter).

There were a few notable names, including former-first round pick offensive guard Joshua Garnett, who worked out for the Seahawks. The 49ers drafted Garnett 28th overall in 2016, and he started 11 games as a rookie. He then missed the entire 2017 season with an injury, and didn’t make any starts last year. The 49ers were able to save $1.7MM by cutting him, and they jumped at the opportunity. Perhaps he’ll be able to revive his career with an NFC West rival.

The Dolphins are hosting offensive tackle J’Marcus Webb, who has plenty of starting experience. After trading away Laremy Tunsil, the Dolphins are understandably looking for tackle help. Webb started 16 games for the Raiders as recently as 2015, and one for the Colts last season before being placed on IR. He’s been around since 2010, and spent his first three seasons as a starter with the Bears. As Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald quipped in a tweet, it’s “not optimal” that the Dolphins are potentially looking for a starting tackle six days before the opener.

The Bills appear to be looking for a punter, as they worked out a group of them today.

Here’s the full list:

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Kansas City Chiefs

Miami Dolphins

  • OT J’Marcus Webb

New Orleans Saints

Seattle Seahawks

New Saints LB Kiko Alonso Adjusts Deal

September 1st, 2019 at 9:35pm CST by Zachary Links

The Dolphins planned to release linebacker Kiko Alonso until the Saints agreed to a swap sending fellow ‘backer Vince Biegel to South Beach. Before the deal was finalized, Alonso agreed to an adjusted contract to facilitate the trade, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears. 

The revised contract will give Alonso a fully-guaranteed $5MM – with no offsets – by next week. The Saints will pay $4MM of that sum while the Dolphins will kick in $1MM. Meanwhile, the last year of his contract remains untouched – Alonso is set to earn $6.4MM in base salary with an $8.2MM cap figure in 2020, though the Saints could escape that year with little financial consequence. Cutting Alonso before the start of the year would save $6.4MM against the cap with just $1.76MM in dead money.

Traditional metrics portray Alonso as a solid linebacker who can defend against the pass. But, despite his five interceptions over the last three years, he gets little love from the advanced metrics for his coverage ability.

Algorithms, schmalgorithms, is what the Saints say. Alonso’s help will be greatly appreciated in New Orleans while Alex Anzalone and Craig Robertson continue to heal up from injury.

Sunday NFL Transactions: NFC South

September 1st, 2019 at 4:59pm CST by Sam Robinson

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC South teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers and Saints are noted below.

Additionally, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads today. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.

Here are Sunday’s NFC South transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Dolphins Trade Kiko Alonso To Saints

September 1st, 2019 at 8:56am CST by Rory Parks

The Dolphins aren’t cutting linebacker Kiko Alonso after all. We heard yesterday that Miami was releasing Alonso, which suggested the club’s efforts to trade him had been fruitless. However, Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reports that the Fins are trading Alonso to the Saints (Twitter link), and Nick Underhill of The Athletic tweets that New Orleans is sending back LB Vince Biegel.

For Alonso, this is good news from a competitive and financial standpoint. Since he was traded rather than released, he remains tied to his $6.48MM salary for 2019, for which the Saints are now on the hook. Plus, New Orleans is a legitimate Super Bowl contender, while Miami is in the middle of a complete teardown.

Alonso has started every game in which he has appeared for the Dolphins since joining the team in 2016, compiling 354 tackles and five interceptions over that time. However, despite the nice interception total, he generally struggles in coverage and is not especially well-regarded by advanced metrics.

He can be effective when deployed properly, and he will join a Saints defense that also includes A.J. Klein, Alex Anzalone, and Demario Davis. He will provide solid depth if nothing else, but given the salary the team is taking on, it seems that New Orleans plans to give him a significant role. Plus, Anzalone and Craig Robertson haven’t practiced in some time, and Klein missed practice all of last week, so the Saints needed a plug-and-play LB.

Biegel, who has just 14 career tackles to his name, was used as an edge rusher and as a linebacker in the preseason, as Mike Triplett of ESPN.com tweets. The Dolphins may have been intrigued by his versatility, but it’s not as though they had a ton of leverage to ask for a more established player or for draft picks. Biegel appeared primarily on special teams for the Saints in 2018, but he will have the opportunity to earn a larger role with the Fins.

Saints Reach 53-Man Max

August 31st, 2019 at 3:36pm CST by Zachary Links

Good news for Saints fans, and fans of lists in general. The Saints have reached the 53-man max – here’s the full rundown.

Released:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

Saints To Release DT Sylvester Williams

August 31st, 2019 at 1:44pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Saints will move on from one of their mid-offseason defensive additions. They will release veteran defensive tackle Sylvester Williams, Nick Underhill of The Athletic tweets.

Williams has bounced around since his four-year Broncos tenure concluded after the 2016 season. The former first-round pick played for the Titans in 2017 and split time with the Lions and Dolphins last season.

The 30-year-old defender played 376 snaps in 2018, starting four games with the Lions and playing 14 total in Detroit and Miami. His last full-season starter role came with the Broncos in 2016. The Titans used Williams as an 11-game starter in their 3-4 defense.

Williams marks the second veteran inside defender the Saints moved on from today. They also released Ziggy Hood, whom they signed just ahead of training camp. Hood was last a full-time player with the 2017 Redskins, with whom he was a 13-game starter.

Saints Cut Kayvon Webster

August 30th, 2019 at 3:09pm CST by Zachary Links

The Saints have cut cornerback Kayvon Webster, according to multiple reports. The 28-year-old’s run in New Orleans lasted less than three months.

The Saints auditioned several cornerbacks early on this summer and liked what Webster brought to the table. But, with a solid group of CBs already locked in, a spot was far from guaranteed for the vet.

Webster garnered some hype as a backup in Denver, but injuries spoiled what could have been his true coming out party with the Rams. Instead of taking off in old friend Wade Phillips‘ system, his season ended after just eleven games. Last year, he latched on with the Texans, but he was limited to just two games thanks to multiple injuries and two IR stints.

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