2022 New Orleans Saints active roster cuts tracker
By Kristen Wong
The New Orleans Saints will have to trim their roster down to 53 players by 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Here’s our live roster cuts tracker to keep you in the loop.
Here we are on one of the biggest days of NFL preseason: final roster cuts. Some dreams will be crushed while others will come true. Players can still continue their careers elsewhere on another team or perhaps on the Saints’ practice squad, but when it comes to the initial 53-man roster, these guys unfortunately came up short.
Follow along with live updates below.
Khalique Washington, OL
Josh Black, DT
Quenton Meeks, CB
Brian Allen, CB
Abram Smith, RB
There wasn’t a spot for Abram Smith on the 53-man roster, but the undrafted rookie could pass through waivers and land on the Saints’ practice squad. Though Smith showed promise this preseason, making the final roster is a numbers game, and Smith simply didn’t do enough to move up the depth chart.
Derrick Kelly, OL
Josh Andrews, OL
Ian Book, QB
We saw this coming. The Saints already have their top two quarterbacks rostered in Jameis Winston and Andy Dalton, and Taysom Hill will likely take the QB3 role. No room for Book on the roster this year, though the Notre Dame product should attract plenty of attention from other teams.
Taco Charlton, DE
Niko Lalos, DE
With the release of two defensive ends, this season will be an important one for breakout hopefuls Payton Turner and Marcus Davenport.
Rashid Shaheed, WR
Shaheed was one of NOLA’s highest paid undrafted rookies — keep an eye on this one to make the practice squad.
Dai’Jean Dixon, WR
Derek Schweiger, OL
Jordan Jackson, DT
Kirk Merritt, WR
We recently made the case to keep Kirk Merritt, but the young wideout will part ways with the Saints — for now. A stellar preseason showing upped his stock and gave Merritt a serious shot at breaking into the final roster, yet NOLA has instead opted to stick with last year’s wideouts as their depth pieces: Marquez Callaway, Tre’Quan Smith, and Deonte Harty.
It was not all for naught. Merritt will likely compete with the Saints’ other released wideouts for a spot on New Orleans’ practice squad if he clears waivers. NOLA’s Luke Johnson makes a good point:
If Tre'Quan Smith has to go on IR for his shoulder injury, the Saints will have to keep him on the 53-man roster in order to do so. Could be an opening at WR for someone like Merritt or Dai'Jean Dixon if they clear waivers. https://t.co/7CBKzpPeGa
— Luke Johnson (@ByLukeJohnson) August 30, 2022
DaMarcus Fields, CB
Nephi Sewell, LB
Two position groups to watch for the Saints are OL and LB, both of which could see some shake-ups before the start of the season.
In the linebacker unit specifically, the release of several players bodes well for projected starter Pete Werner, who has been recovering from injury this preseason.
Lukas Krull, TE
Eric Wilson, LB
Nick Martin, C
JP Holtz, TE
Vincent Gray, DB
Jon Bostic, LB
Looks like 2020 third-rounder Zack Baun gets a spot on the initial roster. Don’t count out the other guys so quickly, though.
Some of the veterans the Saints released that don’t have to go through waivers are ideal candidates to be back in a couple days after they place guys like Penning, Smith on short-term IT.
— Mike Triplett (@MikeTriplett) August 30, 2022
Martin, Wilson, Bostic or Holtz could potentially go that route, among others.