Canal Street Chronicles
The hard decisions of cutdown day made for some surprising moves.
All 32 NFL teams had to make the hard decision of trimming their roster down from 90 players to 53. Although teams can later add these players to their 17-man practice squad, releasing them runs the risk of that player being claimed on waivers or signed by another team. As it comes with every cutdown day, the New Orleans Saints made some surprising cuts.
The Saints hosted a safety battle with second-year Jordan Howden and veteran Johnathan Abram throughout training camp and the preseason hoping one player would stand out and take over the role. Neither safety took a commanding lead on the position and it was expected to still be up for grabs leading into week one. But on Tuesday the Saints shockingly cut Abrams, leaving the job to the second-year safety. Howden has many fans inside the building and has shown signs of promise during his rookie season but was inconsistent in the preseason. New Orleans wants to retain Abram on the practice squad, but as a veteran safety, other teams may offer him a role on their 53-man roster.
The Saints' safety questions continued to rise when they released Ugo Amadi. Amadi earned play time with New Orleans in 2023 excelling on special teams and sliding into the slot for them when needed. With the Saints' confidence in slot cornerback Alontae Taylor rising, the team decided to move on from Amadi and fill their roster with cheaper depth pieces.
Update: Both Umadi and Abram were signed to the practice squad.
The Saints waived/released six offensive linemen on Tuesday including guard Shane Lemieux who was competing for the open left guard position. The offensive line has been questioned since training camp and it seems the team is still unhappy with the depth pieces on the unit. New Orleans currently has eight linemen available on the roster with just three players available behind the starters. The Saints will likely look over the players that other teams waived and cut to add to their roster, but the release of the majority of their depth shows they were not happy with the pieces they had.
Update: Josiah Ezirim, Shane Lemieux, and Kyle Hergel were resigned to the practice squad.
The Saints hosted kicker and punter battles for the second year in a row after special teamers Lou Hedley and Blake Grupe proved inconsistent throughout the 2023 season. The Australian punter’s rugby style of punting made for some awkward punts along with low hang times. In 2023, Hedley ranked 33rd in yards per punt. New Orleans will have a different Australian punter take over Hedley’s spot with rookie Matthew Hayball. Hayball outperformed Hedley in each preseason matchup.
Charlie Smyth had lots of fan support coming into the preseason as he was often reported nailing 60+ yard field goals in camp, even hitting a 65-yarder in pre-game...
