Canal Street Chronicles
With the roster cut deadline at 3 p.m. looming, the New Orleans Saints have been making cuts to get down to their final 53 and according to multiple reports, they have waived QB Jake Haener.
Haener was drafted by the Saints in the fourth round (127th overall) of the 2023 NFL draft. He was suspended for the first six weeks of his rookie season after testing positive for a banned performance enhancing substance.
In 2024, he played in 8 games and started in Week 14 for the Saints against the Washington Commanders after Derek Carr suffered a hand injury. He finished the year 18/39 for 226 yards, with 1 TD and 1 INT.
The Saints have been in the middle of a quarterback competition with Haener seemly the odd man out behind 2nd year QB Spencer Rattler and this year’s 2nd round draft pick Tyler Shough as both have worked with the first team during training camp and have alternated starting in the Saints 3 preseason games.
Saints offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier said of Haener while speaking with local media today, “It’s the tough part of this business. Jake’s a really good player and sometimes when you get in a situation with numbers and rosters. As we know, yesterday and today, it’s very fluid in this league; there’s a lot of stuff moving around and going on. Jake did a great job and had a great camp, unfortunately he had the injury early on in the offseason, but he did a really nice job for us.”
Haener’s time in New Orleans may not be completely over as he has been offered a place on the Saints’ practice squad, if he clears waivers.
