Here it is: the New Orleans Saints released their initial 53-man roster after cuts were reported to the league office on Tuesday, as per NFL rules. And we’ve had time to scour the depth chart up and down to see what’s been settled, what’s still unsaid, and what may be in the works.
Here are our eight takeaways from the Saints’ first 53-man roster of the 2023 season:
1
This roster is a lot younger than last year's team
Yes, the Saints are going to be leaning hard on some players over the age of 30 — guys like Cameron Jordan, Tyrann Mathieu, Demario Davis, and Derek Carr. Jimmy Graham is making a comeback too. But the players up and down the depth chart are younger, faster, and healthier than the team we saw a year ago. As Nola.com’s Jeff Duncan observed, last season the Saints’ roster had an average player age of 28.1 years old. This year it’s down to 26.9.
2
This is a team made up of Dennis Allen's players
In case that wasn’t clear from the moves Allen made this offseason — targeting his quarterback in Derek Carr, his defensive tackles in Khalen Saunders and Nathan Shepherd, and so on — he put a stamp on it by going with his own specialists. He brought in Lou Hedley to take the punting job from Blake Gillikin (which he did) and Blake Grupe to push Wil Lutz for the kicking job (which he won). If this is Allen’s last run as a head coach, he’s going down swinging with his own players on the roster, not Sean Payton’s.
3
NFL turnover happens quicker than you'd think
These are the players still remaining from the 2021 Week 1 roster, just two years ago: Jameis Winston, Taysom Hill, Alvin Kamara, Adam Prentice, Juwan Johnson, Ryan Ramczyk, James Hurst, Landon Young, Andrus Peat, Cesar Ruiz, Erik McCoy, Tre’Quan Smith, and Michael Thomas. Just 13 of the 27 players on offense (including Alvin Kamara) were on the team at this point two years ago.
On defense, you’ve got Cameron Jordan, Payton Turner, Tanoh Kpassagnon, Carl Granderson, Malcolm Roach, Demario Davis, Pete Werner, Zack Baun, J.T. Gray, Marshon Lattimore, and Paulson Adebo. That’s 11 of the 24 players on that season-opening roster two years ago.
In other words, only 25 of the 54 players on the team have been here for more than one or two seasons (including long snapper Zach Wood). Take it back another year to 2020 — the last season Drew Brees played in the NFL — and you’ll see that just 18 of them are still around.
4
Kirk Merritt, Keith Kirkwood made the cut on offense
Remember Merritt? He spent the 2022 season on the Saints practice squad converting from wide receiver to running back, but an offseason injury kept him from flashing his skills in preseason. The coaches still felt they had seen enough from him to roster him ahead of guys like Ellis Merriweather and Darrel Williams. Kirkwood also made the squad at receiver, and he’s in line for a solid role if Tre’Quan Smith goes to injured reserve soon as is expected.
5
Offensive line depth has been upgraded
For the most part it’s the same unit that we saw last year — only with rookie draft pick Nick Saldiveri and veteran free agent Max Garcia taking over from young backups Calvin Throckmorton and Lewis Kidd. That should be a step up at least athletically, giving the Saints improved blocking up front.
The starting lineup is shuffled, too. Andrus Peat hasn’t taken first-string reps at left guard in weeks since returning from injury. The team hasn’t made an announcement but all indications point to James Hurst winning that job and starting next to Trevor Penning. Having Peat coming off the bench instead of someone like Throckmorton is a big boon.
6
The Saints are uncharacteristically thin at linebacker
Here’s the linebacker corps on the initial 53-man roster: Demario Davis, Pete Werner, Nephi Sewell, Zack Baun, and D’Marco Jackson. Just five players. The Saints have never rostered fewer than six linebackers with Allen running the defense, and they’ve kept as many as seven of them at times.
There’s a Jaylon Smith-sized hole in this picture. He was surprisingly cheerful on social media Tuesday when news of his release was reported, and after practice Allen said that it was “absolutely” possible he could return soon. It’s looking more and more like the Saints let Smith go in a procedural move so another player could go on injured reserve and have the opportunity to return later. Don’t be shocked if he re-signs in the next day or two.
7
But the secondary depth is dense as ever
Some teams only roster eight or nine defensive backs. The Saints have ten of them, and everybody has a role (and some could return soon on the practice squad, like safety Johnathan Abram). Tyrann Mathieu and Marcus Maye will start at safety. Marshon Lattimore and Paulson Adebo are the wide corners with Alontae Taylor moving into the slot. Ugo Amadi, Lonnie Johnson Jr., and Jordan Howden can back up almost any position in the secondary while helping on special teams, where J.T. Gray and Isaac Yiadom truly shine. Many teams would do horrific things for this quality and variety of talent.
8
The entire rookie draft class made the cut
The Saints haven’t accomplished this since 2017, so we’ll make note of it. All seven rookie draft picks are on the 53-man roster to start the season. That’s remarkable. Bryan Bresee may be the only one seeing anything close to starter’s minutes and Isaiah Foskey may be inactive on game days to open the year, but everyone has a role and a clear vision for playing. Kendre Miller will get his share of opportunities with Kamara suspended. Nick Saldiveri can push for a backup role on game days right out of the gate. Jake Haener will be active as the third quarterback in case emergency strikes. Jordan Howden and A.T. Perry can both round out their depth charts and step up when needed. It’s all very encouraging.
