Saints Rumors

NFL COVID-19 List Updates: 12/30/21

Here are Thursday’s reserve/COVID-19 list updates:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

  • Activated from virus list: OL Cody Ford, CB Cam Lewis
  • Activated from practice squad virus list: TE Quintin Morris

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

  • Placed on practice squad virus list: LB Omari Cobb

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

NFL COVID-19 List Updates: 12/29/21

Several key players returned to practice Wednesday. Here are the latest COVID-19 updates from around the league:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Activated from practice squad/COVID-19 list: WR Rico Bussey

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/28/21

Today’s taxi squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Cleveland Browns

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts 

Jacksonville Jaguars 

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Saints Rework Marshon Lattimore’s Deal

The Saints have converted Marshon Lattimore’s $500K Likely To Be Earned (LTBE) All-Pro incentive into a roster bonus for 2022 (Twitter link via Field Yates of ESPN.com). The move provides the Saints with an additional $500K in cap room for the current year while guaranteeing Lattimore’s bonus, whether or not he earns All-Pro honors. 

[RELATED: Updated 2022 NFL Draft Order]

Lattimore, 25, was named to the Pro Bowl just last week, his fourth nod in five years. Given his quality work, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him capture All-Pro honors for the first time in his career this year. Through 14 games, Lattimore has 62 tackles, two interceptions, and a fumble recovery while allowing a stingy 54.8% completion rate.

Historically, Pro Football Focus hasn’t always been high on Lattimore. In 2020, PFF’s metrics give him a 59.1 overall grade, good for just 70th out of 121 qualified players. This year, it’s a different story. The Ohio State product currently ranks 15th in the league with a solid 75.9 mark.

Yesterday’s ugly loss to the Dolphins dropped the Saints to 7-8, but they could still manage a Wild Card spot with wins over the Panthers and Falcons.

Updated 2022 NFL Draft Order

With two weeks to go, six NFL teams have formally clinched their playoff spot while eight teams (Seahawks, Giants, Bears, Panthers, Texans, Lions, Jets, and Jaguars) have been mathematically eliminated. Somehow, there is still a path for the 6-9 Washington Football Team to make the postseason, even though they’re currently slated to pick No. 9 overall in April.

For non-playoff teams, the draft order will be determined by the inverted 2021 standings, plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule. For playoff teams, the order is determined by their postseason outcome and regular season record.

As we close out the calendar year and the 2021 regular season, here’s a look at the currently projected 2022 NFL Draft Order:

1. Jacksonville Jaguars: 2-13
2. Detroit Lions: 2-12-1
3. Houston Texans: 4-11
4. New York Jets: 4-11
5. New York Giants: 4-11
6. New York Jets (via Seahawks)
7. Carolina Panthers: 5-10
8. New York Giants (via Bears)
9. Washington Football Team: 6-9
10. Atlanta Falcons: 7-8
11. Denver Broncos: 7-8
12. Minnesota Vikings: 7-8
13. New Orleans Saints: 7-8
14. Cleveland Browns: 7-8
15. Pittsburgh Steelers: 7-7-1
16. Los Angeles Chargers: 8-7
17. Las Vegas Raiders: 8-7
18. Baltimore Ravens: 8-7
19. Philadelphia Eagles (via Dolphins)*
20. Philadelphia Eagles: 8-7*
21. Miami Dolphins (via 49ers)*
22. New England Patriots*
23. Philadelphia Eagles (via Colts)*
24. Arizona Cardinals: 10-5*
25. Buffalo Bills: 9-6*
26. Cincinnati Bengals: 9-6*
27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 11-4*
28. Detroit Lions (via Rams): 11-4*
29. Tennessee Titans: 10-5*
30. Dallas Cowboys: 11-4*
31. Kansas City Chiefs: 11-4*
32. Green Bay Packers: 12-3*

* = Playoffs

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/27/21

Today’s taxi squad moves:

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

Kansas City Chiefs

New Orleans Saints

San Francisco 49ers

Washington Football Team

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/27/21

Today’s minor moves:

Buffalo Bills

Cincinnati Bengals

Jacksonville Jaguars

New Orleans Saints

Washington Football Team

Saints To Sign Ethan Westbrooks, Justin March-Lillard

The Saints are set to sign linebacker Justin March-Lillard and defensive tackle Ethan Westbrooks, according to Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune. Both players will be eligible for tonight’s game against the Dolphins.

The Saints were in desperate need of reinforcements after placing 20+ players on the COVID-19 list this week. Even when counting eligible practice squaders, that left the Saints with barely enough players to field a full 48-man active roster.

Westbrooks, 31, appeared in 61 games for the Rams between the 2015 and 2018 seasons, collecting 51 tackles, nine sacks, and one forced fumble. However, he hasn’t seen the field since that 2018 campaign. His last deal came with the Raiders, but he was released midway through the 2021 preseason.

March-Lillard, 28, has spent much of his seven-year career as a special teamer. So far this year, he’s appeared in just one game for the 49ers. Still, he could be thrust into action tonight as the Saints work with limited options.

Thanks to the NFL’s new protocols, the Saints could see some of their players cleared between now and kickoff. But, barring that, they’ll be at half-strength tonight as they fight to keep their playoff hopes alive. A loss tonight would decrease their Wild Card chances to just 33%, per the stats at Five Thirty Eight.

NFL COVID List Updates: 12/25-12/26/21

We’ve compiled a list of players who were placed on or activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list on Christmas and today. In some instances, players activated from the list remain on IR:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Placed on practice squad/COVID-19 list: WR Steven Sims

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Four NFC Playoff Spots Taken Today, More TBD

The NFC playoff picture is starting to become more and more clear. Green Bay was the first to clinch a playoff spot when they won the NFC North as a result of their win over the Ravens last week. Today, four more teams in the NFC were able to make sure their seasons extend past Week 18.

Tampa Bay clinched the NFC South for the first time since 2007 with a 32-6 win over the Panthers. While the NFC West does not have a champion yet, they clinched two playoff spots today as a result of the Rams 30-23 win over the Vikings. The Cardinals have had opportunities to clinch a playoff spot in their last three games, but have been unable to do it themselves, losing all three games to the Rams, Lions, and Colts. The Vikings’ loss ensures that the Cardinals will, at worst, finish in a wild card spot. Lastly, and most peculiarly, the Cowboys were able to clinch the NFC East as a result of the AFC West contest between the Raiders and Broncos. Due to the Raiders victory over the Broncos, the Cowboys now hold a strength-of-victory tiebreaker over the Eagles, securing at least one home playoff game in January.

This leaves two wild card spots available in the NFC between six teams still in contention. The Lions (2-12-1), Giants (4-11), Seahawks (5-10), Bears (5-10), and Panthers (5-10) have already been eliminated from the playoffs. The teams still vying for those last two spots are the 49ers (8-7), Eagles (8-7), Saints (7-7, play tomorrow night), Vikings (7-8), Falcons (7-8), and Football Team (6-8, playing tonight). The only division that hasn’t been decided is the NFC West, where the playoff-bound Rams and Cardinals will race for a home playoff game.

The other conference in professional football is much more wide open. To date, the only team to clinch a playoff spot is the Chiefs, who clinched the AFC West today with a convincing 36-10 win over the Steelers. Only three teams have been eliminated from playoff contention: the Jaguars (2-13), the Texans (4-11), and the Jets (4-11).

The AFC East is currently a race between the Bills (9-6), Patriots (9-6) and Dolphins (7-7), who play tomorrow night and are looking to extend their six-game win streak. If the Dolphins were to lose tomorrow night, they would still be in the running for a wild card spot, but they would not be able to win the AFC East, since the Bills own the head-to-head tiebreaker over them.

The AFC South is a bit more cut-and-dry, coming down to the Titans (10-5) and Colts (9-6). The Titans hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Indianapolis, so a single win in their finals two games (vs Dolphins, @ Texans) would clinch the division. The Colts would need Tennessee to lose both games and win their final two (vs Raiders, @ Jaguars) to win the division.

The AFC North is still completely up in the air. All four teams are still in contention to win the division. The Bengals (9-6) have swept the Ravens and Steelers, so they hold the head-to-head tie breaker over both teams. Due to their two win difference in record over the Browns, Cincinnati can clinch the division with a single win in its final two games (vs Chiefs, @ Browns). Even if the Bengals lose both final games, they could clinch the North if each other team in the division splits their final two. Every other team in the division can win the North if the Bengals lose their final two games and they win their own final two. The second-place Ravens (8-7) face the Rams (11-4) and Steelers, the third-place Steelers (7-7-1) face the Browns and Ravens, and the fourth-place Browns (7-8) finish with the Steelers and Bengals.

Although the winner of the AFC West has already been determined, the remaining three teams are all still eligible to reach the postseason. The Chargers (8-7) and Raiders (8-7) likely control their own destinies, but the Broncos (7-8) would need some assistance to get in, even if they won their two remaining games.

With the second year of expanded playoffs and the first year of an extra regular season out-of-conference game, the 2021 NFL season is set up for an exciting finish. As of the writing of this post, only 2 of the 34 remaining games of the the 2021 regular season will have no direct effect on the postseason. Those two games in Week 17 between the Giants-Bears and the Lions-Seahawks will only influence strength-of-victory tiebreakers for teams still in the hunt. Besides those, every remaining game will have implications for playoff clinching or playoff seeding. Buckle up and stay tuned for a nail-biting conclusion to the regular season.