Saints sign Tony Carter, Kendall Hunter and place Damian Swann, Marcus Murphy on IR

Multiple sources, including NFL.com’s Rand Getlin, reported earlier today that the New Orleans Saints were signing veteran cornerback Tony Carter to the 53-man roster. Now, we have more roster moves.

The team is also signing veteran running back Kendall Hunter, calling up fullback Toben Opurum to the active roster, and placing rookies Marcus Murphy and Damian Swann on injured reserve per reports.

The Opurum news comes from The Advocate’s Nick Underhill.

Tony Carter, who turned 29 in May, has been in the league since 2009. He originally went undrafted, but landed with the Denver Broncos shortly after. He most recently spent time with the Indianapolis Colts, and played three games from Week 7-9. One of those opponents was the New Orleans Saints.

Carter is more of a special teams guy, but has 49 tackles, 20 pass deflections, 3 interceptions, and 2 touchdowns in his career.

The Saints released defensive end Phillip Hunt on Tuesday without a corresponding move, so no other transactions would have to be made to add Carter. No official moves have been announced.

September 3, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Kendall Hunter (32) runs past San Diego Chargers linebacker Colton Underwood (57) during the first quarter in a preseason game at Levi

Kendall Hunter is a 2011 4th Round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers. After sustaining a torn ACL on July 26, 2014, he’d be released from the team only to be brought back to their injured reserve list. Hunter, who recently turned 27, was released with an injury settlement in September.

Rookie Damian Swann heading to injured reserve only makes sense after suffering his third concussion of the season in Sunday’s victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We first heard the news that Swann was heading to injured reserve on December 14 by ESPN’s Adam Caplan, but head coach Sean Payton failed to confirm the move with the media on Monday.

As for Swann’s 2015 campaign, the 5th Round selection out of Georgia certainly had a strong presence when on the field. His season ends with 230 snaps played on defense in 7 games played, grading at a -0.2 overall. Swann finishes with 22 total tackles and 4 pass deflections. Naturally, his safety trumps everything for his return in 2016, but Swann has a bright future ahead with the black and gold.

Marcus Murphy, the team’s 7th Round draft choice out of Missouri, ends his season after sustaining a high ankle sprain against the Buccaneers. Murphy appeared in only one snap on offense this season, and had some ball security issues after shining early in the year with the team’s first special teams touchdown since 2011 back in Week 3.

Former Saints on the move

From Tuesday’s transaction report, the Detroit Lions released cornerback Stanley Jean-Baptiste from their practice squad, the St. Louis Rams released kicker Zach Hocker, and the Seattle Seahawks released running back DuJuan Harris and safety Akeem Davis.

The Pittsburgh Steelers worked out Jean-Baptiste on Wednesday, as per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.