The Saints announced the signings of cornerback Mac McCain and safety Roderic Teamer on Thursday.
The move with Teamer was reported earlier in the day before he officially signed his one-year deal.
McCain entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2021, signing with the Broncos out of North Carolina A&T. In his rookie season, he played two games with the Eagles and totaled two tackles and one special teams stop in the regular-season finale against the Cowboys.
In 2022, McCain spent 17 weeks of the regular season and the entire postseason on the Eagles’ practice squad. He went to training camp with the Panthers in 2023.
The Saints waived defensive end Nathan Latu in a corresponding move.
Latu signed with the team after going undrafted this spring. He played two seasons at Oklahoma State, and in 14 games last season, Latu totaled 31 tackles and three sacks.
In 2022, Latu played 10 games, and he recorded 14 tackles and four sacks.
Saints Clips
The Saints are bringing in a New Orleans native.
Per multiple reports, safety Roderic Teamer is signing with the club on a one-year deal.
Teamer, 27, participated in New Orleans’ minicamp on a tryout basis.
He was previously with the Raiders until he was cut after being arrested for DUI in November of last season.
Teamer entered the league with the Chargers in 2019 as an undrafted free agent out of Tulane. He appeared in seven games with six starts as a rookie with Los Angeles, but was waived in August 2020 after being served with a suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on substance abuse.
While Teamer then spent some time in the 2021 offseason with the Colts, he signed with the Raiders in June of that year and appeared in 10 games for the franchise that season. He played all 17 games for Las Vegas in 2022, mostly on special teams.
Teamer could still face discipline from the league for his 2023 DUI arrest.
The Falcons are signing free agent defensive tackle Prince Emili, his agent, Paul Sheehy, announced.
Emili, 25, played for the San Antonio Brahmas of the UFL this spring. The Brahmas lost to the Birmingham Stallions in the championship game on Sunday.
Emili made 21 tackles, two tackles for loss and three sacks in the UFL.
He has spent time with the Bills and the Saints in the NFL, playing two games for Buffalo in 2022. Emili saw action on 22 defensive snaps and made three tackles and a pass defensed.
Emili has remained an NFL free agent since the Saints cut him out of the preseason last summer.
The Saints signed tight end Jesper Horsted on Friday, the team announced. In a corresponding move, the Saints waived undrafted rookie wide receiver Kyle Sheets.
Horsted is a four-year NFL veteran who originally signed with the Bears as an undrafted free agent out of Princeton in 2019. In his career, he has appeared in 41 games with one start for the Bears (2019-21) and the Raiders (2022-23).
Horsted has recorded career totals of 14 receptions for 131 yards with three touchdowns and 10 special teams tackles.
In 2023, he played 13 games and caught a pass for a 4-yard gain and contributed to the Raiders’ special teams units by tying a career-high with four coverage tackles. He played eight offensive snaps and 216 on special teams last season.
For his career, Horsted has seen action on 186 offensive snaps and 527 on special teams.
Sheets signed with the Saints after going undrafted out of Slippery Rock.
A two-time Division II All-American, Sheets had 154 receptions for 2,440 yards and 29 touchdowns in 51 college games. In 2023, he caught 76 passes for 1,186 yards and 17 scores.
Phony contract years are more trouble than they’re worth.
They create the false impression that the player is making more than he is. Then, when the contract approaches the phony final year, the player knows he’ll be cut before that money is ever paid.
That’s what’s happening with the Saints and running back Alvin Kamara. The goal when he signed his current contract was to get the new-money average to $15 million. To get there, a fake final year of $25 million was tacked onto the back end. Now, as he enters the next-to-last year of the deal with a base salary of $10.2 million, the two sides are trying to extend the agreement.
The negotiations on an extension have gone nowhere. Which prompted Kamara to leave the team’s mandatory minicamp.
The recent contract given to 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey surely is a factor. He bumped the new money average from $16 million (with no phony back end) to $19 million (with no phony back end).
That’s the other problem with fake final years. The $25 million payment that was never going to be paid makes it harder to pump up the new money average with an extension.
Both McCaffrey and Kamara were drafted in 2017. Early in their careers, they had roughly the same per-touch impact. The difference was that McCaffrey was getting the ball more often.
McCaffrey has continued to produce at a high level, winning the league’s offensive player of the year award in 2023. Kamara’s rushing average has slipped under four yards over the past three years combined, and he had a career-low 6.2 yards per reception last season.
Although veteran running backs have done a little better this year financially, there’s clearly a gap between what Kamara wants and what the Saints want to pay. And it culminated in the unusual development of a player showing up for mandatory minicamp and then walking out.
Saints defensive end Chase Young received a positive report from neck specialist, Dr. Robert Watkins, during a checkup this week, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports.
Young will undergo more tests in about six weeks, per Fowler, but the former No. 2 overall pick plans to participate in training camp.
Young, 25, signed a one-year, $13 million deal with the Saints on March 18, a day before it was revealed he needed neck surgery.
The Saints insist they knew about the surgery before signing Young, and they expect him to be ready for the start of the regular season. It seems likely the team will be deliberate in Young’s return this summer.
The Commanders drafted Young in 2020 and traded him to the 49ers last season in exchange for a 2024 third-round pick. He has never had more than 7.5 sacks and has 16.5 in his four-year career.
Young’s only Pro Bowl came during his rookie season when he was defensive rookie of the year.
Saints running back Alvin Kamara left for his summer break ahead of the rest of the team on Thursday.
Kamara made his first appearance of the offseason for the team’s mandatory minicamp, but he did not take part in the final practice session on Thursday. Head coach Dennis Allen confirmed that Kamara was present for the walkthrough before leaving the facility.
Allen did not share a reason why Kamara did not practice, but his agent Brad Cicala told Ian Rapoport of NFL Media that Kamara left for contract-related reasons.
Kamara has a base salary of $10.2 million for the 2024 season and a cap number of more than $18 million. He has an unguaranteed $22.4 million salary for the final year of his current deal in 2025. His total compensation for 2025 is $25 million.
Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football reports the team and Kamara have had contract talks, but that there has not been much progress made in those discussions.
Saints tight end Juwan Johnson is currently dealing with an injury, but he hopes to be good to go for Week One.
Johnson will have foot surgery next week and the Saints are hopeful he can play on September 8 when they take on the Panthers to start the regular season, according to ESPN.
Johnson originally signed with the Saints as an undrafted rookie wide receiver out of Oregon in 2020, but has developed since moving to tight end and become the Saints’ starter. Last year he had 37 catches for 368 yards and four touchdowns.
The news of Johnson’s injury came after tight end Jimmy Graham said he would be open to returning to the Saints this season. Graham is currently a free agent but could be an option for the Saints if they need another tight end with Johnson hurt.
The Saints are thin at tight end without Johnson. Foster Moreau would be the top tight end on the Saints’ depth chart while Johnson is out.
As they so often do, the Saints have restructured a contract to give themselves some salary cap relief this year but put themselves in a tougher cap position in future years.
This time it’s Taysom Hill who has reworked his contract, according to multiple reports.
The restructuring of Hill’s contract turns most of his 2024 base salary into a signing bonus. While base salaries hit the salary cap in the year they’re paid, signing bonuses are spread across the remaining years of the contract. So Hill will count less against the Saints’ cap this year but more against the Saints’ cap in future years.
Hill is now slated to have a $9.2 million salary cap hit in 2024 and an $18 million salary cap hit in 2025.
According to OverTheCap.com, the Saints are now $12 million under the salary cap for 2024, and they’re projected to be a whopping $88 million over the salary cap for 2025. They’ll have plenty more contracts to restructure next year.
Saints tight end Juwan Johnson is dealing with a leg injury.
Johnson suffered an injury to his lower leg and will miss “a good amount of time,” according to Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football. The nature of the injury and Johnson’s status when the regular season starts in three months is unclear.
Last year Johnson was the Saints’ top tight end, finishing the season with 37 catches for 368 yards and four touchdowns. It would be a major concern if he has to miss games in the regular season.
The news of Johnson’s injury came just hours after tight end Jimmy Graham said he would be open to returning to the Saints this season. Graham is currently a free agent but could be an option for the Saints if they need another tight end with Johnson hurt.
Foster Moreau would be the top tight end on the Saints’ depth chart while Johnson is out.
