You might be sitting there, thinking to yourself: "It's not even the middle of May. It's way too early to have any idea what the Saints' 53-man roster will look like in September."
You'd be absolutely correct in that statement, but it won't stop us from setting a baseline. With the rookie draft picks now officially a part of the equation, we can establish what the roster would likely be if you had to set it as of May 8. From there we can adjust based on what we see at rookie minicamp, OTAs, mandatory minicamp and the full training camp, which kicks off in late July.
So save up your harsh takes, because this will be pretty straightfoward. At this point in the offseason, the process skews more heavily toward veterans, because we simply haven't gotten a chance to look at the UDFA class in action yet. That said, there is one UDFA who sneaked onto the 53 in the list below, and also one draft pick who will have to make his start on the practice squad -- at least based on initial impressions. It's also worth noting there are only 85 players on the Saints roster right now. When they fill those slots, some of these cuts could get more complicated.
SAINTS OFFSEASON DATES
- Rookie minicamp: May 12-14
- OTAs (optional): May 23-25; May 30-June 1; June 5-8
- Mandatory minicamp: June 13-15
- Training camp: TBA (typically late July)
Scroll below for a 53-man roster breakdown by position, plus a practice squad list.
* = Drafted rookie
** = UDFA
━━━━
QUARTERBACK (3)
- Derek Carr
- Jameis Winston
- Jake Haener*
CUT (0)
- NONE
NOTES: Nothing complicated here. Jake Haener almost certainly wouldn’t clear waivers, so there will be no stashing on the practice squad for this developmental QB. Just like Ian Book last year, he’d be snatched up by a team with a roster opening. He’ll likely be a gameday inactive considering you still have Taysom Hill to serve in the emergency QB role if you ever get to it, but it does mean you’ll have to make a difficult decision somewhere else to accommodate it. I don’t anticipate Jake doing anything to displace Jameis Winston in the backup role, so I’d be very surprised if this changes at all throughout camp.
━━━━
RUNNING BACK/FULLBACK (4)
- RB Alvin Kamara
- RB Jamaal Williams
- RB Kendre Miller*
- FB Adam Prentice
CUT (2)
- SaRodorick Thompson Jr.**
- Eno Benjamin
NOTES: Another position where you’re going to have to eat that extra roster spot (assuming Kamara isn’t suspended prior to the season). It’ll be a three-headed backfield as long as they’re all healthy. The question will be whether you actually need a FB on the roster. The Saints seem to like carrying one, so I’ll leave it for now, but I could see a scenario where they skew more toward two-back sets to get all three RBs adequate snaps throughout the year, which could mean Prentice drops to the practice squad as an easy way to create an extra spot down the line, where things get a bit tougher to decide.
━━━━
WIDE RECEIVER (6)
- Bryan Edwards
- Chris Olave
- Tre’Quan Smith
- Michael Thomas
- Rashid Shaheed
- A.T. Perry*
CUT (6)
- Kawaan Baker
- Sy Barnett**
- Shaquan Davis**
- Keith Kirkwood
- Malik Flowers**
- Kirk Merritt
NOTES: There were a few tough cuts here, but for now this feels like a strong group. If you’re the Saints, you want to keep one of Shaquan Davis or A.T. Perry on the roster to have that big body, contested catch receiver. It’ll come down to whichever player looks better throughout camp. Perry has the production/ACC pedigree working on his side, so I’ll err to him for now. Flowers is a no-brainer stash, just like Shaheed last season. It’s possible Bryan Edwards and/or Tre’Quan Smith get displaced down the line, but in the initial projections I’m almost always going to lean veteran/consistency.
━━━━
TIGHT END (3)
- Miller Forristall
- Taysom Hill
- Juwan Johnson
CUT (2)
- Joel Wilson**
- Lucas Krull
NOTES: I know nothing about Miller Forristall, but I do know that neither Taysom Hill or Juwan Johnson is going to be relied on as a blocking TE. Both can hold up when called upon, but it’s far from their strong suit. Neither Lucas Krull or Joel Wilson satisfy that requirement either, at least not from what I’ve seen. So consider Forristall a placeholder at this point. Maybe he is that guy, but one way or another I see a third, blocking TE to stick on the roster to supplement Hill and Johnson.
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━━━━
OFFENSIVE LINE (9)
- C/G Erik McCoy
- C/G Cesar Ruiz
- G/T Andrus Peat
- G/T Nick Saldiveri*
- OL James Hurst
- OL Lewis Kidd
- OT Trevor Penning
- OT Landon Young
- OT Ryan Ramzcyk
CUT (4)
- OL Alex Pihlstrom**
- OT Mark Evans**
- OL Calvin Throckmorton
- OT Storm Norton
NOTES: For now these feel like pretty easy cuts, but OL feels like the most common position to see training camp injuries. At this point I’m leaning toward the players I know in Lewis Kidd and Landon Young, but that could easily flip to Throckmorton and Norton as things progress. Either way I think nine is the number you’ll end up trimming to.
…
━━━━
DEFENSIVE LINE (9)
- DE Carl Granderson
- DE Cam Jordan
- DE Tanoh Kpassagnon
- DE Payton Turner
- DE Isaiah Foskey*
- DT Malcolm Roach
- DT Khalen Saunders
- DT Nathan Shepherd
- DT Bryan Bresee*
CUT (3)
- Jerron Cage**
- Jabari Zuniga
- Prince Emili
NOTES: Barring injuries, this feels like the most straightforward position group. If you keep 10, I could see Prince Emili landing on the roster as added interior depth, possibly because you don’t want to put too much pressure on Bresee right out of the gate, but this is a position that feels pretty locked in. The only question is how much each guy contributes.
━━━━
LINEBACKERS (6)
- Zack Baun
- Demario Davis
- Andrew Dowell
- D’Marco Jackson
- Anfernee Orji**
- Pete Werner
CUT (4)
- Nick Anderson**
- Ty Summers
- Nephi Sewell
- Ryan Connelly
NOTES: This is the only position where I kept a UDFA. That obviously could change, but I really like what Orji brings to the group, and he fills that big body, athletic, make-the-tackle-at-all-costs mentality that the Saints lost in Elliss. I like Anderson as a developmental guy, but his tweener build will make it difficult to find a spot in the main defense, and you’re pretty well stocked with special teams linebackers. Nephi Sewell vs D’Marco Jackson is an interesting question, but I think you’re going to want to get a look at your 5th round pick from last season if you can.
━━━━
DEFENSIVE BACK (10)
- CB Paulson Adebo
- CB Marshon Lattimore
- CB Bradley Roby
- CB Alontae Taylor
- CB Isaac Yiadom
- CB/S Lonnie Johnson Jr.
- S J.T. Gray
- S Johnathan Abram
- S Tyrann Mathieu
- S Marcus Maye
CUT (6)
- S Ugo Amadi
- CB Anthony Johnson Jr.**
- S Jordan Howden*
- DB Troy Pride Jr.
- DB Vincent Gray
- S Smoke Monday
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NOTES: This is always a tough position to gauge in terms of the numbers and because special teams ability is such a huge factor with those final few roster spots. Who is going to be the gunner opposite J.T. Gray? My guess is Isaac Yiadom, so here’s there right now. Still, it’ll likely be an open competition in camp. Jordan Howden ends up being my lone draft pick on the cut line for this opening projection, and it’s because I’m just not sure what sets him apart to stick on the roster (I also think you’re confident that he’ll survive waivers and land on the practice squad). Folks will also be annoyed that I left Smoke Monday off, but I need to see him back healthy before I can project confidence in him beating anybody out. For now I’m going with Johnathan Abram in that depth safety role (think Justin Evans from last year). I also left Lonnie Johnson on there because his versatility to play CB or safety is something the Saints clearly value.
━━━━
SPECIAL TEAMS (3)
- K Wil Lutz
- P Blake Gillikin
- LS Zach Wood
CUT (3)
- K Blake Grupe**
- K Alex Quevedo
- P Lou Hedley**
NOTES: Hedley will be fun to watch, and maybe he’s a guy you stash just like you did with Gillikin a few years back, but for now there’s no point in having the conversation. The same is true for Lutz, who struggled mightily last season and was willing to take a pay cut. He didn’t struggle in camp, though, and I’d expect he doesn’t this year, either. This could end up being Lutz’s final season, but I think that’s something you determine in-season, if you have to at all. It’s likely either of Quevedo or Grupe would be around to be signed if need be.
━━━━
PRACTICE SQUAD (14)
- S Ugo Amadi
- S Jordan Howden*
- S Smoke Monday
- LB Nick Anderson**
- LB Nephi Sewell
- DT Prince Emili
- DE Jabari Zuniga
- OL Calvin Throckmorton
- OL Storm Norton
- TE Lucas Krull
- RB SaRodorick Thompson Jr.**
- WR Malik Flowers**
- WR Keith Kirkwood
- WR Kirk Merritt
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