The 49ers host the Saints on Sunday, during the second week of the preseason. The two teams were scheduled to conduct joint practices in the days preceding the game.
Now, not.
Saints coach Dennis Allen told reporters that 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan raised the issue on Saturday.
“Kyle reached out to me yesterday, making me aware that they have some things going on in terms of having enough able bodies to have some good practices,” Allen said, via Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group.
Via Matt Barrows of TheAthletic.com, Shanahan told reporters after Saturday’s preseason game that 23 players missed the team’s most recent practice, for various reasons.
One of those, of course, is receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who counts against the 90-man roster but who isn’t practicing. It’s all the more reason for Shanahan to be irritated by Aiyuk’s situation — and maybe this will be the catalyst for finally resolving it.
Saints Clips
The Saints have a quarterback competition. For the No. 2 quarterback job.
And second-year pro Jake Haener wasn’t going to let something like cancer surgery keep him from showing what he can do in a preseason game.
As noted by Jeff Duncan of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Haener played on Saturday in Arizona after having skin cancer surgery this week. He still has 32 stitches in his right cheek; they’ll be removed on Monday.
“I get to play this game for a living,” Haener said, via Luke Johnson of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “I’m super fortunate and I’m going to do it for as long as I can.”
After starter Derek Carr appeared in the first two drives of the game, Haener handled the next four of the first half. He completed nine of 13 passes for 107 yards, with a long of 58.
“I’m a competitive dude,” Haener said, per Johnson. “I play my ass off every step of the way, even when I’m getting hit and things are tough, I’m going to bring that energy because my team needs it, right? There needs to be that ‘X’ factor I think when you’re playing quarterback. That’s always how I’ve played and I’m not going to change.”
Rookie Spencer Rattler, who at one point was viewed as a potential No. 1 overall pick in the draft but who went to the Saints with the 150th selection, handled five drives, completing nine of 17 passes for 70 yards.
“Both of them made plays, both of them did some good stuff, both of them led two-minute drives,” coach Dennis Allen said, via Johnson. “You can never get enough of that type of situational work, and in particular for those young guys to be put in those situations, both of them responded well.”
By Week 1, it will be Haener or Rattler as the guy who will be the next man up if/when Carr is injured or, in theory, benched.
“It’s contagious,” Haener said of the competition. “You’ve just got to bring that and compete your ass off every step of the way. . . . It’s a long road and Spencer’s really talented, right? I can do some nice things as well, so I’ve just got to stay the course, keep my head on straight and go one day at a time.”
The best stories in sports are real and organic and authentic. Both of the candidates to serve as Carr’s understudy have overcome genuine instances of adversity that make their situations more compelling than the average backup quarterback back story. Haener’s was health related; Rattler’s is an example of dramatically unfulfilled potential.
One of them is going to be a step closer to playing quarterback in the NFL, within the next four weeks.
Saints linebacker Pete Werner, a second-round pick in 2021, was due to make $1.435 million this year. He now has a new contract with the Saints.
We’ve gotten a look at the full numbers. Here are the details of the three-year extension and, in all, four-year deal:
1. Signing bonus: $5.5 million, half of which is due within 30 days and the other half of which is due by September 30, 2024.
2. 2024 base salary: $1.435 million, fully guaranteed.
3. 2025 base salary: $4.25 million, fully guaranteed.
4. 2026 base salary: $6.25 million, guaranteed for injury at signing and fully guaranteed as of the third day of the 2025 league year.
5. 2027 base salary: $6.5 million.
For 2025, 2026, and 2027, Werner gets $400,000 if he participates in at least 95 percent of the defensive snaps.
The deal includes up to $450,000 in playing-time escalators for 2026 and 2027, based on playing time in 2024 and 2025. For 85-percent playing time in 2024 or 2025, a $225,000 escalator activates. For 90-percent playing time, another $225,000 is unlocked.
In all, it’s a four-year, $23.935 million deal. The extension has a value of $22.5 million, with a new-money average of $7.5 million per year.
The maximum value of the extension is $24.6 million. The maximum value of the four-year deal is $26.035 million.
The Saints have locked up one of their key defensive players.
According to multiple reports, linebacker Pete Werner has agreed to a three-year extension with New Orleans.
The initial reports indicate Werner’s deal is worth more than $25 million with $17.5 million guaranteed.
A second-round pick in 2021, Werner has developed into a consistent starter for New Orleans. He started 16 games last year, recording 93 total tackles with four tackles for loss, an interception, and two fumble recoveries.
He was headed into the final year of his rookie contract but is now tied to the organization through 2027.
Free agent safety Justin Simmons met with the Saints in person on Wednesday, but it wasn’t the first time he had a conversation with the team.
Saints head coach Dennis Allen said that there was communication earlier in the offseason that ended with the two sides pretty far apart in terms of a deal. Allen said on Wednesday that things are “probably a little closer” at this point, but stopped well short of suggesting that a deal is in the works.
“This is a guy that has been a good player in our league for a long time,” Allen said, via Luke Johnson of NOLA.com. “He’s a player that has shown an interest in us. We’ve got some connections with him in terms of guys on our staff that have worked with him, guys that have played with him. . . . It’s a visit. He’s coming in and we’ll talk about how we see him, what type of vision that we have for him, and then if what we’re looking for and what he’s looking for match up, we’ll see if it goes further than that.”
Saints defensive coordinator Joe Woods and secondary coach Marcus Robertson both coached Simmons at points when he was with the Broncos. It remains to be seen if they’ll be working with him again in 2024.
Veteran safety Justin Simmons is one of the top unsigned players on the market right now and he’ll be meeting with a team in a bid to change that on Wednesday.
Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football reports that Simmons will be visiting with the Saints.
Simmons was a 2016 third-round pick for the Broncos and he spent the last eight years as a key piece of their defense. He made a pair of Pro Bowls while starting 108 games in Denver and recorded 604 tackles, 30 interceptions, five forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries.
The Saints currently have Tyrann Mathieu, Jordan Howden, Johnathan Abram, and Will Harris at the top of their safety group.
Simmons said last month that he feels that he “can be the missing piece for a lot of teams to get them over the hump.” If the Saints agree, Simmons’s extended run as a free agent could come to an end.
The Saints have made a pair of roster moves on Tuesday.
New Orleans announced the team has signed linebacker Mike Rose and waived offensive tackle Chandler Brewer with an injury designation.
Rose previously spent time with the Chiefs and Dolphins after entering the league as an undrafted free agent in 2022. But he has not appeared in a regular season game.
He played for the St. Louis Battlehawks over the last two years in both the XFL and UFL.
Brewer, 27, had signed with the Saints in late July. He has appeared in 14 career games with four starts since initially signing with the Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2019.
During the break between the end of the offseason program and the start of training camp, Saints rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler returned home to work on his game.
He was in Arizona for six weeks with his personal quarterback coach.
“Just cleaning up fundamentals and working on little things that we noticed in spring ball and OTAs,” Rattler said Monday, via John DeShazier of the team website. “And really improved in some of those areas and came back and got right back to work.
“Just very small things, footwork-wise — false steps, little punch steps on your drop, not getting too much depth, maintaining that circle in the pocket, not hitching too much. Little, minute things that can add up to negative plays. You’ve got to control that and avoid that.”
Rattler, drafted in the fifth round, is competing with Jake Haener for the No. 2 job behind Derek Carr. Haener missed Monday’s practice for a skin cancer procedure, giving Rattler additional reps.
“I think he’s improving every day,” coach Dennis Allen said of Rattler. “There’s still some things that he’s doing: Just understanding how to play within the scheme of the offense, how to get through your progressions, knowing how to listen to your feet, when to take your chances down the field, when it’s time to check the ball down — all those things are pretty good learning experiences.
“I wanted to put him in a situation [Monday in practice], fourth-and-five, we’re in a move-the-ball situation see if he could execute and make a play. And he did. He made a hell of a throw on the out route to get the first down in that situation. So I see some of that confidence, which I think is good at the quarterback position, and yet there’s some times where I think we’ve got to pull the reins back just a little bit.”
Haener is expected to return to practice Wednesday, and the backup quarterback competition will continue into the preseason. Allen said the Saints will let the preseason games play out before making a decision.
“We’re trying to determine if we have a backup quarterback on our roster right now. I’ve seen some signs that I like,” Allen said. “Yet, I want to get them into real live situations, under the lights, and see how both of these guys operate in that environment. I’m encouraged by what I’ve seen out of both Spencer and Jake, and yet, we haven’t made any decisions there. I want to see what they operate like under the lights.
“I would say, I’m going to give these young guys every opportunity to prove that they’re deserving of that role. And that comes through what you do out here on the practice field, and what they’re going to do when they get into the preseason games.”
Saints tight end Dallin Holker is in an unusual position for an undrafted rookie in training camp: Working with the starters.
Holker, who wasn’t drafted despite a strong season at Colorado State last year, is getting time with the first-string offense while tight end Juwan Johnson recovers from offseason foot surgery, and Holker has looked good on the practice field, according to Luke Johnson of NoLa.com.
“He’s got football awareness and football intelligence,” head coach Dennis Allen said of Holker. “That allows him to find soft spots in zones and things of that nature. He’s really good when the picture changes. For a young guy, to be advanced in that way from a football intelligence standpoint, is pretty impressive.”
Holker said he’s trying to do everything asked of him as a blocker and receiver to earn a roster spot.
“I just come out here and try to practice as hard as I can to be able to make a spot on this team and help us win,” Holker said.
Johnson’s injury left the Saints without much depth at tight end, so the emergence of Holker in training camp could be a major boost to the offense in New Orleans.
The Browns announced a few roster moves on Sunday.
They have signed safety Faion Hicks to the 90-man roster and they have waived safety Dyshawn Gales. They also released center Brian Allen from injured reserve after placing him on the list last month due to a calf injury.
Hicks was a 2022 seventh-round pick by the Broncos. He played 30 special teams snaps in two appearances as a rookie and he spent last season on the practice squad in New Orleans.
Grant Delpit, Juan Thornhill, Rodney McLeod, Ronnie Hickman, D’Anthony Bell, and Brady Breeze are also on the safety depth chart in Cleveland.
