HEADLINES

Travin Dural

Saints Place Buck Allen On IR

July 30th, 2019 at 12:08pm CST by Zachary Links

The Saints have placed running back Buck Allen on injured reserve, according to head coach Sean Payton. To take his place, the club has signed running back Robert Kelley. 

Allen worked out for the Saints in May alongside Kelley. Allen was the best of the bunch at the time, but Kelley will now get his shot now that the ex-Raven has been ruled out for the year.

Kelley only suited up for two games with the Redskins last year thanks to a toe injury (but he didn’t break his knee, dude.) The running back averaged 4.2 yards per carry as a rookie in 2016 and he’s hoping to regain his old form in 2019. Unfortunately for him, he has a tough road ahead of him to make the Saints’ roster. Behind star Alvin Kamara, the Saints already have Latavius Murray and the underrated Dwayne Washington.

In related moves, the club also inked wide receiver Travin Dural and waived defensive back Chris Campbell.

Patriots Work Out Justin Hunter

July 22nd, 2019 at 1:52pm CST by Zachary Links

The Patriots worked out four wide receivers on Monday, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Free agents Nick Williams (Titans), Justin Hunter (Steelers), Papi White (Jaguars), and Travin Dural (Saints) all showed their stuff for the Pats, who will be without Julian Edelman for the next three weeks because of a thumb injury. 

Hunter seemed to hold serious promise when he entered the league as a second round pick of the Titans in 2013. Since then, he has spent time with three other teams, with the Steelers being the most recent of the bunch. He has managed just 14 catches with the Bills, Dolphins, and Steelers between 2017 and 2018. Last year, he did not see the field. His best season came most productive season came in 2014 when he had 28 catches for 498 yards and three scores with the Titans, though he did manage four TDs with Buffalo in 2016.

Hunter and the other players won’t have the easiest path towards making the Patriots’ final cut, but one of them may have an outside opportunity to hook on with the defending champs.

Saints Sign Rishard Matthews

June 13th, 2019 at 4:10pm CST by Zachary Links

The Saints have signed wide receiver Rishard Matthews, according to the NFL’s transactions wire. To make room, the team waived fellow wide receiver Travin Dural. 

The Titans granted Matthews’ request for release in late September after he grew frustrated with his lack of playing time. He hooked on with the Jets in October, but posted just two catches for 13 yards before landing on injured reserve.

Prior to that, Matthews was the Titans’ leading receiver for two seasons. And, prior to that, he had something of a breakout season with the Dolphins in 2015.

Matthews isn’t the only ex-Jet to join the Saints’ WR group. The Saints also added Chad Hansen earlier this week, giving them a baker’s dozen of receivers on the 90-man roster.

Saints Sign WR Brandon Tate

July 31st, 2018 at 8:36pm CST by Ben Levine

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.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/16/18

January 16th, 2018 at 7:31pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Here are the latest reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2018 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ offseason 90-man rosters:

Atlanta Falcons

New Orleans Saints

Pittsburgh Steelers

Sunday NFL Transactions: NFC South

September 3rd, 2017 at 4:04pm CST by Dallas 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 Falcons, Panthers, Saints, and Buccaneers are noted below.

Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. 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

Saints Reach 53-Man Roster Limit

September 2nd, 2017 at 10:16pm CST by Zachary Links

Every team had to get under the 53-man limit by Saturday’s deadline, but the Saints were the last to publicly announce their cuts. Here’s the full rundown of their moves:

Waived:

Released:

IR:

The Saints re-signed Cadet this offseason only to put him on the trade block in June. They didn’t find any takers then and they apparently couldn’t find any now. The Jets, who pursued him in free agency, could have interest in signing him.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/20/17

July 20th, 2017 at 5:10pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The latest minor transactions from around the NFL:

  • The Ravens made a few moves on Thursday, per the Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec, who reports that the club waived/injured defensive back Daniel Henry, placed offensive lineman Jermaine Eluemunor on the non-football injury list, and put wide receiver Aaron Bailey and defensive end Patrick Ricard on the physically unable to perform list (Twitter links). With the exception of the English-born Eluemunor, a fifth-round pick, all of those players joined the Ravens this year as undrafted free agents.
  • The Patriots cut offensive lineman Chase Farris, opening up a spot on their 90-man roster, tweets Doug Kyed of NESN. Farris went undrafted out of Ohio State last year and then signed with the Lions, who cut him prior to Week 1. He has been in and out of the New England organization on multiple occasions since then.
  • The Saints placed Travin Dural and Devaroe Lawrence on the non-football injury list. Dural’s condition is “nothing serious,” Nick Underhill of The Advocate (on Twitter) hears.
  • The Jaguars sent fullback Marquez Williams to the PUP list, according to Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union (Twitter link). Williams, out of Miami (Ohio), went to Jacksonville in the seventh round of this year’s draft.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Saints, 12 UDFAs Reach Deals

May 1st, 2017 at 5:54pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Saints have agreed to deals with 12 undrafted free agents, all of whom are listed below.