The New Orleans Saints’ initial roster of 53 players for the 2020 regular season has been established.
With that in mind, this exact roster is unlikely to be what the Saints will end up rolling with for the season opener on September 13, as changes are always possible. For example, linebacker Vince Biegel made the first roster of 53 players last season, then was quickly traded to Miami for linebacker Kiko Alonso.
Will the Saints do any other business? Will they sign a free agent? A lot is possible before the official start of the season.
Additionally, some of the players the Saints dropped or released on Saturday could return when the 16-man practice squad is established.
In the meantime, here’s a look at the Saints’ initial 53-player roster:
DISTRICTS (3): Drew Brees, Taysom Hill, Jameis Winston.
WAIVED: No.
INSTANTANEOUS: No surprises here. The Saints have one of the best quarterback halls in the league with these three.
REAR (4): Alvin Kamara, Latavius Murray, Ty Montgomery, Dwayne Washington.
WAIVED: Tony Jones Jr.
INSTANTANEOUS: The Saints opted to retain both Montgomery and Washington, although Washington is technically still on the reserve / COVID-19 list. Montgomery adds another element of the hybrid weapon that Sean Payton and Co. are so fans of. Fans know what they take in from a healthy Kamara, and Murray only makes this group stronger, as he’s been a starter before him.
FULL RETURN (1): Michael Burton.
WAIVED: No.
INSTANTANEOUS: Burton was on the chopping block last time around, but with Zach Line dropping out in the offseason, the job is his. It wasn’t a competition either, as Burton was the only fullback on the list coming on Saturday.
WIDE RECEIVERS (5): Michael Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, Tre’Quan Smith, Deonte Harris, Marquez Callaway.
RELEASED * / RELEASED: Bennie Fowler III *, Emmanuel Butler, Austin Carr, Lil’Jordan Humphrey, Juwan Johnson.
INSTANTANEOUS: One of the deepest positional groups in training camp, the Saints remained with five receivers, accompanying the undrafted rookie from Tennessee for fifth place. The Saints have several potential options for their practice team’s receivers, and the top four outgoing here could have been signed up to make the squad in April.
TIGHT ENDS (3): Jared Cook, Josh Hill, Adam Trautman.
WAIVED: Tommy Stevens, Garrett Griffin, Ethan Wolf.
INSTANTANEOUS: The bigger question here was “What are they going to do with Tommy Stevens?” And in a slight shock, the Saints chose to renounce it. The Saints traded part of the Capitol Hill 2021 draft to keep him away from the Carolina Panthers, and now NFC rival South has a chance to pull him out of waivers. A scenario to follow on Sunday. As for Cook, Hill and Trautman? It’s a regular squad of two veterans with 20 years of NFL experience and a rookie that’s trending upwards.
OFFENSIVE LINE (9): Terron Armstead, Ryan Ramczyk, Andrus Peat, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz, Ethan Greenidge, Derrick Kelly, Nick Easton, Will Clapp.
RELEASED * / WAIVED: Patrick Omameh *, Jordan Steckler, Calvin Throckmorton, Cameron Tom.
INSTANTANEOUS: Outside of Ruiz, the Saints have chosen trusted faces that have been a part of their franchise for at least a year. Based on Ruiz’s late injury at camp, it would be reasonable to see McCoy start the season at center and have him on guard, but Easton has shown he can be used as a relief in guard posts. Greenidge and Kelly are both young tackles, not playing in their rookie campaigns last year, raising the possibility that the Saints could activate James Hurst after his four-game suspension.
END OF DEFENSE (4): Cameron Jordan, Marcus Davenport, Trey Hendrickson, Carl Granderson.
RELEASED * / RELEASED: Margus Hunt *, TJ Carter.
INSTANTANEOUS: So far, the Saints have four defensive ends on the roster with Mr. Reliable in Jordan and proven talents at Davenport and Hendrickson. Expectations for Davenport are high this year, as he said himself. Granderson showed flashes of being a formidable ending last year, and he insisted on getting stronger this offseason. It manifested itself at the camp.
DEFENSIVE TACLES (5): Malcolm Brown, David Onyemata, Sheldon Rankins, Shy Tuttle, Malcolm Roach.
RELEASED: Mario Edwards Jr.
INSTANTANEOUS: The Saints kept undrafted rookie Malcolm Roach from Baton Rouge on the top 53, making him one of three undrafted rookies to make the cut on Saturday. Releasing Edwards came as a bit of a surprise, but it shows the value the Saints place on Roach and the other young sophomore tackle Tuttle. As for the top of the position group, this remains the status quo.
RETURN LINES (6): Demario Davis, Alex Anzalone, Zack Baun, Craig Robertson, Kaden Elliss, Chase Hansen.
RELEASED * / RELEASED: Anthony Chickillo *, Joe Bachie, Andrew Dowell, Wynton McManis.
INSTANTANEOUS: The Saints go with six linebackers with a seventh to Kiko Alonso on the list physically unable to perform. Hansen, who spent the entire 2019 season on the non-football injury roster, was the sixth linebacker, as the majority of the rest of the post squad had been with the Saints for a year or more. The other newcomer is Baun, and he should potentially start this season alongside Davis and Anzalone.
REAR CORNER (5): Marshon Lattimore, Janoris Jenkins, PJ Williams, Patrick Robinson, Justin Hardee.
WAIVED: Kemon Hall, Keith Washington Jr.
INSTANTANEOUS: Aside from maybe seeing Washington get shot, that is mostly what was expected for this group. Lattimore and Jenkins have the starting spots locked, with Williams getting jobs all over the defensive ground. Robinson has shown in this camp that he feels like himself again and that at the age of 32 he can still be counted on. And Hardee, his presence in special teams is vital.
SECURITY (5): Malcolm Jenkins, Marcus Williams, CJ Gardner-Johnson, DJ Swearinger, JT Gray.
WAIVED: Saquan Hampton (injured).
INSTANTANEOUS: Hampton disappeared towards the end of camp for undisclosed reasons, missing the last four practices, so his absence from the active roster makes sense. The rest of the group of stations is what was expected. Jenkins and Williams holding him as starters. Gardner-Johnson being a jack of all trades in the back field. Swear being a backup veteran who showed when Jenkins missed several camp practices. As for Gray, he was a second-team All-Pro special teammate last year for a reason.
SPECIALISTS (4): Thomas Morstead, Wil Lutz, Zach Wood, Blake Gillikin.
WAIVED: No.
INSTANTANEOUS: If anyone said two weeks ago that the Saints are keeping two punters on the original 53-man roster, I would have thought you were kidding. But here we are in 2020 with two bettors on the 53. It just shows that the Saints are really high on Gillikin, an undrafted free agent from Penn State, and they clearly want to keep him. As for the other three? Yeah, it’s business as usual.
RESERVE / PHYSICALLY UNABLE TO CARRY OUT (1): Kiko Alonso.
INSTANTANEOUS: Alonso spent all of training camp on the PUP roster, and now he’ll be sidelined for at least the first six weeks of the regular season as he continues to come back from his ACL tear.
RESERVED / INJURED (1): Anthony Lanier II.
INSTANTANEOUS: Lanier was a late addition to the squad, joining the Saints for their first practice in the Superdome last week. It is not known what happened to Lanier so that he landed on the reserve of the injured at the end of the season.
RESERVE / SUSPENDED BY THE COMMISSIONER (1): James Hurst.
INSTANTANEOUS: Hurst will serve a four-game suspension to start the season and does not count against the 53-man roster. What the Saints choose to do with him after that is a guess, but from the way they carry two young tackles behind Armstead and Ramczyk, it stands to reason they could bring him back.
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