The Saints will officially be without one of their key rookies for at least the season’s first four weeks.
New Orleans placed Jodryn Tyson on injured reserve as part of their moves to reduce their roster to 53 players on Sunday.
While Tyson has been designated to return, he will not be eligible to play until New Orleans’ Week 5 matchup with the Vikings.
Tyson suffered a hamstring injury during a joint practice with the Jaguars earlier this month. While Tyson has a history of hamstring injuries, head coach Kellen Moore has said this one is unrelated to what he’s experienced in the past.
The Saints selected Tyson at No. 8 overall in this year’s draft.
For the rest of their transactions, the Saints released safety Terrell Burgess, cornerback Michael Davis, running back Zamir White, and cornerback Isaac Yiadom.
New Orleans waived defensive lineman Myles Cole, receiver Jalen Cropper, edge rusher Fadil Diggs, running back CJ Donaldson, cornerback TJ Hall Jr., tight end Cody Hardy, offensive tackle Alan Herron, offensive tackle Easton Kilty, receiver Trey Palmer, guard Torricelli Simpkins III, linebacker Jackson Sirmon, kicker Charlie Smyth, defensive lineman Jay’Viar Suggs, and offensive tackle Alex Wollschlaeger.
The Saints placed five players on injured reserve: cornerback Dalys Beanum, edge rusher Mike Heldman, cornerback David Long Jr., running back Devin Neal, and offensive tackle Barry Wesley.
Along with Tyson, linebacker Jaylan Ford has been placed on IR with a designation to return.
Finally, the club placed receiver Mason Tipton on the reserve/physically unable to perform list and receiver Brock Rechsteiner on the reserve/suspended list.
Saints Clips
The Saints traded for running back Zamir White earlier this month, but he won’t be on the team’s initial 53-man roster.
Mike Triplett of NewOrleans.Football reports that the Saints are releasing White on Sunday.
White was acquired in a deal with the 49ers for linebacker Deion Jones. Jones is also going to be released, so both players will be looking for new places to play in 2026.
White had four carries for 23 yards and a touchdown in his lone preseason appearance for New Orleans. He ran 198 times for 736 yards and two touchdowns over four seasons for the Raiders before moving on to the 49ers this offseason.
Veteran linebacker Deion Jones will have a short stint in San Francisco.
After a recent trade that brought Jones from the Saints to the 49ers for running back Zamir White, the 49ers are releasing Jones, via Adam Schefter of ESPN.
A second-round pick of the Falcons in 2016, Jones made it to the Pro Bowl in his second season. He spent six years in Atlanta, one in Cleveland, one in Carolina, and two in Tampa.
He had signed with the Saints in early August.
For his career, Jones has 128 regular-season appearances and 91 starts.
Receiver Brock Rechsteiner, the son of WWE Hall of Famer Scott Steiner, won’t be making the Week 1 roster in New Orleans.
Via Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.football, the Saints have waived Rechsteiner.
Rechsteiner, an undrafted rookie, played college football at Jacksonville State. He’s facing a six-game suspension to start the season, for unspecified reasons.
The suspension will run regardless of whether Rechsteiner is on a roster.
Rechsteiner recently paid homage to his father’s career during a joint-practice fight with the Cowboys, flinging Cowboys safety Jalen Thompson to the ground.
The growing trend of NFL teams keeping their quarterbacks out of the preseason has reached the point where more than one-third of starting quarterbacks did not take a single snap in this year’s preseason.
The reasons were different for different teams: Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Colts quarterback Daniel Jones are recovering from season-ending injuries. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson haven’t played in the preseason in years, across multiple coaching staffs. Rams coach Sean McVay is perhaps the most cautious coach in the league when it comes to avoiding preseason injuries, so of course reigning MVP quarterback Matthew Stafford didn’t play.
But the result is the same: If you’re tuning into a preseason game, you’re increasingly likely to see backup quarterbacks exclusively, and if you see a starter at all, it will typically only be for a series or two.
Here’s the full list of teams that didn’t play their starting quarterbacks at all this preseason, via Mike Reiss of ESPN:
Seahawks: Sam Darnold.
Patriots: Drake Maye.
Cowboys: Dak Prescott.
Ravens: Lamar Jackson.
Steelers: Aaron Rodgers.
Colts: Daniel Jones.
Jaguars: Trevor Lawrence.
Chiefs: Patrick Mahomes.
Eagles: Jalen Hurts.
Lions: Jared Goff.
Saints: Tyler Shough.
Rams: Matthew Stafford.
The Saints waived fourth quarterback Hunter Dekkers on Saturday, leaving Spencer Rattler and Zach Wilson behind Tyler Shough.
The team received trade interest in Rattler, but plans to keep him, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports.
If the Saints do indeed keep three quarterbacks on their roster, the question then becomes who will serve as the backup on game day.
Rattler, a fifth-round pick in 2024, competed for the starting job a year ago and ended up starting the first eight games of the season. The Saints went 1-7, and Shough replaced him.\
In two seasons, Rattler has passed for 2,903 yards with 12 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
He was 30-of-44 for 262 yards with an interception in three preseason games. Rattler also ran for 30 yards and a touchdown on seven carries.
The new contract recently signed by Saints receiver Chris Olave comes with an important caveat.
The deal includes a guarantee waiver in the event Olave suffers a concussion for which he cannot be cleared to play.
The waiver also applies to the blood clot he suffered in 2025.
Here’s the language from the contract: “Player has been informed by the Club Physician that he has the following pre-existing conditions: Concussions and Respiratory Pulmonary Embolism. Should Player. in the sole opinion of Club Physician (which shall be final and binding}, become physically unable to perform the services required of him by his NFL player contract as a result of the aforementioned pre-existing condition(s) or deterioration or aggravation of the aforementioned physical condition(s) and as a result thereof, after consulting an independent third party specialist. the Club Physician. in his/her sole opinion (which shall be final and binding). will not clear Player to play professional football. then all injury guarantees described herein shall immediately become NULL & VOID.”
As of 2024, Olave had suffered four concussions during his time in the NFL. The situation caused him to contemplate retirement.
Olave already has earned a $35 million signing bonus. The remaining $55 million in guarantees would potentially be voided, in the event that Olave cannot secure medical clearance to play due to a concussion or a blood clot.
Brandon Staley is heading into his second season as the Saints’ defensive coordinator, but his previous experience as an NFL head coach has him thinking about what a second chance in that spot might look like.
Staley earned a reputation for being ultra-aggressive while going 19-15 in his first two seasons as the head coach of the Chargers, but the weight of some of those decisions misfiring and a blown 27-point lead against the Jaguars in the playoffs put him on the hot seat when the 2023 season started badly. The Chargers wound up firing him after Week 15 and Staley spent the 2024 season with the 49ers before joining Kellen Moore in New Orleans.
Staley said “as tough and impossible as it was at the end” of his time with the Chargers, he feels he has to use them the right way to grow as a coach. He shared what he thinks he would do differently if given another opportunity to run a team.
“I would have a lot more poise and composure in terms of knowing when to push and when to pull,” Staley said, via Jeff Howe of TheAthletic.com. “I was trying to push it, and I was trying to get us there as fast as we could. When you have more experience, you know when to do both of those things. You just have a better feel and understanding, and that’s in all aspects of being a leader. That’s why the next time, I just have so much more experience now — I didn’t have any back then. I could have done a better job. I know for a fact I would do a better job just with more turns at it, living through more — little decisions and big decisions.”
There’s high hopes for the Saints heading into this season thanks to a strong finish to last year after handing the offensive reins to quarterback Tyler Shough. If Staley’s defense can help push the team even further this fall, he could get a chance to expand on his new coaching philosophies with teams looking for a new head coach.
Lions running back Isiah Pacheco has picked up another injury.
Pacheco sprained his MCL earlier this month and head coach Dan Campbell said at the time that the team thought Pacheco would be able to return for Week 1. On Thursday, Campbell said that Pacheco is now dealing with a back injury and that his status for the opener is unclear.
“I can’t give you anything definitive,” Campbell said at a press conference.
Campbell did say that the knee is not “a concern” when it comes to Pacheco’s availability.
The Lions met with free agent Kareem Hunt earlier this week and any move to add options in the backfield could be a sign that they don’t think Pacheco will be ready to go against the Saints.
The Saints brought a member of their 2025 secondary back to the team on Wednesday.
They announced the signing of Michael Davis to the 90-man roster. They also signed defensive back David Long.
Davis only played four defensive snaps for New Orleans last season, but he was a regular on special teams in his 11 appearances. He spent the 2024 season with the Commanders and was a starter for the Chargers for most of the previous five years.
Davis has 367 tackles, eight interceptions, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries over his entire career.
Long spent a week with the Giants earlier this month and has played in 80 games for the Panthers, Colts, Packers, Raiders and Rams.
