The New Orleans Saints have had someone wearing the No. 58 each day of its 2021 training camp, but it felt a bit more personal at Thursday's practice.
That's because for the first time it was Kwon Alexander in that jersey, after signing with the team this week. The roster move became official today, with Kendall Donnerson being cut.
Shaq Smith, who had been wearing 58 previously, switched to No. 46.
"I told him I got tired of his social media workouts," Saints coach Sean Payton said Wednesday after the news was first reported. "He was wearing me out.”
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Alexander played in seven games for the Saints in the 2020 season after a midseason trade with the San Francisco 49ers, but suffered a season-ending torn Achilles in a Week 16 blowout of the Minnesota Vikings.
Alexander was released early in the offseason as the Saints shed more than $100 million to get under the salary cap. His new deal was reported to be for a maximum of $3 million with incentives.
"He’s someone we wanted to have back," Payton said. "It was just a matter of working out the right contract."
Fan optimism for a return was stoked largely by social media videos that documented his process during rehab. He was medically cleared from the injury, according to reports, and visited the Saints last month. Payton made it clear, though, that his incorporation into full practice would take some time.
"He’s done a great job with his rehab, but the worst thing we could do is to throw him right back into practice," Payton said.
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Alexander's "acclimation" process kicked into gear Thursday as he was joined by Grant Haley -- also making his camp debut -- for what was essentially an in-person version of the aforementioned social media workouts. But Alexander's impact is already being felt in the locker room.
"Kwon's big for our linebacker corps," linebacker Andrew Dowell said. "And he's a hustle guy, an effort guy, an energy guy and all that, and you can never have enough of those guys on defense."