Today’s minor moves:
Buffalo Bills
Kansas City Chiefs
New Orleans Saints
San Francisco 49ers
Today’s minor moves:
Carolina Panthers
Detroit Lions
Jacksonville Jaguars
Kansas City Chiefs
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Tennessee Titans
The Saints have completed their busy evening by adding some offensive line help. Nick Underhill of The New Orleans Advocate reports (via Twitter) that the team has signed veteran lineman Don Barclay.
The 2012 undrafted free agent out of West Virgina has managed to put together a six-year career, most of which came with the Packers. Besides missing the entire 2014 campaign, the 305-pound offensive guard sat out only a pair of regular season games during his Green Bay tenure, and he made 24 starts protecting Aaron Rodgers. Barclay has also appeared in eight career postseason games.
He was released with an injury settlement in October and quickly caught on with the Lions. However, after appearing in three games (one start) with his new team, Barclay suffered a season-ending concussion.
The 29-year-old will now try to crack a Saints rotation that’s seeking a top reserve. Jermon Bushrod and Cameron Tom appear to have the inside track on that “sixth man” role (via John Sigler of USA Today), although Barclay could certainly provide the duo with some competition. The Saints are also rostering Rick Leonard, Josh LeRibeus, and Bryce Harris.
Earlier tonight, the Saints added a pair of wide receivers in Michael Floyd and Brandon Tate.
The Saints have added another wideout. After signing Michael Floyd earlier tonight, the team has also added receiver Brandon Tate, reports Nick Underhill of The New Orleans Advocate (via Twitter). Josh Katzenstein The Times-Picayune tweets that the Saints have also placed wideout Travin Dural on the injured reserve.
The 30-year-old Tate spent the past two seasons with the Bills, including a 2017 campaign where he hauled in 6 receptions for 81 yards and one touchdown. In recent years, he’s primarily played a role on special teams, serving as both a kick and punt returner. The former third-rounder has averaged 23.8 yards per kick return and 9.5 yards per punt return throughout his career.
Tate could slide into a special teams role in New Orleans. The Saints are reportedly looking to reduce running back Alvin Kamara‘s role in the return game, and while the team is still rostering Tommylee Lewis and Ted Ginn Jr., both players are accompanied by their own question marks (lack of production for Lewis, fumbles for Ginn). Saints coach Sean Payton recently admitted that the team’s return game is up in the air (via Joel A. Erickson of The Advocate.)
“Our return game, it’s kind of like ‘The Bachelor’ right now,” Payton said. “We’ve got about 12 contestants, all with roses. We don’t know who our returner’s going to be, and if she doesn’t like any of them, we’re bringing in more.”
Tate’s only had two seasons with more than 200 receiving yards, so it’s unlikely he’ll establish a role in a crowded receivers depth chart. Even with his special teams prowess, he’ll still have to compete for a roster spot with the likes of Lewis, Floyd, and Austin Carr.
Dural, a former LSU standout, joined the Saints as an undrafted free agent last offseason. He spent last season on New Orleans’ practice squad.
Michael Floyd has found a new home. Nick Underhill of The New Orleans Advocate reports (via Twitter) that the veteran wideout has signed with the Saints.
The embattled wideout spent the 2017 season with the Vikings, hauling in 10 catches for 78 yards in 11 games (one start). While the 28-year-old had expressed interest in sticking around Minnesota, he was only able to garner a single workout with the Ravens back in March.
Floyd broke onto the scene in 2013 with Arizona, compiling 1,041 yards and five touchdowns. However, the former first-rounder’s numbers and role continued to decline over the next few years. Following a 2016 DUI arrest, Floyd was let go by the the Cardinals. He caught on with the Patriots for their 2016 Super Bowl run before landing with Minnesota last offseason.
Michael Thomas is entrenched atop the Saints’ receiver depth chart, while Ted Ginn Jr. and Cameron Meredith are also expected to start. However, Floyd could conceivably battle for snaps with any of the team’s other rostered wideouts, including Brandon Coleman, Tre’Quan Smith, and Josh Huff (who is suspended for the first two games of the upcoming campaign).
The Saints have waived running back Daniel Lasco with a failed physical designation, according to a team announcement. The move will create room for the addition of running back Shane Vereen, who was signed on Wednesday morning. 
[RELATED: Saints Sign Shane Vereen]
Lasco first entered the league as a seventh-round pick of the Saints in the 2016 draft and has largely played on special teams for New Orleans. Last year, he suffered a scary injury while making a special teams play against the Bills and had to be carted off of the field. Lasco had to be strapped to a board in order to limit his movement, but, thankfully, he was alright after the incident.
Without Lasco, the Saints still have six running backs under contract in Alvin Kamara, Mark Ingram, Vereen, Trey Edmunds, Jonathan Williams, and sixth-round pick Boston Scott. Ingram will be suspended for the first four-games of the season, which should open up an opportunity for one of the running backs on the bubble.
The Saints are signing former Patriots and Giants running back Shane Vereen, a source tells Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter). Terms of the deal are not yet known, but its likely a one-year deal worth something close to the veteran’s minimum. 
Vereen, 29, made a name for himself with the Patriots and really came into his own from 2012-2014. In 2015, he hooked on with the Giants and was quietly productive. In his first season with the G-Men, Vereen averaged 4.3 yards per carry and caught 59 passes for 495 yards and four touchdowns. Unfortunately, his ’16 season was derailed by injuries and he wasn’t all that productive last year as the Giants lost their best receivers and opposing defenses stacked the box. He had 44 grabs last season, but he averaged a career-low 5.8 yards per catch.
Vereen won’t be tasked with playing as a No. 1 running back with the Saints, but he could be a difference maker in small doses. Alvin Kamara will serve as New Orleans’ top rusher and Vereen might be able to start the year as their top pass-catching RB while Mark Ingram serves his four-game suspension.
In addition to Kamara, Ingram, and Vereen, the Saints also have running backs Trey Edmunds, Jonathan Williams, and sixth-round pick Boston Scott under contract.