New Orleans Saints announce initial 53-man roster

Buy Saints Tickets

It’s been a busy couple of days for the New Orleans Saints as they worked to thin out their depth chart, but here’s the initial 53-man roster. There were a few surprise moves but for the most part it looks like what we projected going into the NFL roster cuts deadline.

But this is just the initial depth chart. The roster will change as waiver claims are processed and procedural moves sending some players to injured reserve are completed. The Saints will continue to tweak the 53-man roster throughout the season, but here’s what we’re working with after the biggest moves:

Quarterbacks (3)

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

• No. 4 Derek Carr
• No. 2 Jameis Winston
• No. 14 Jake Haener (rookie)

Running backs (3)

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

• No. 30 Jamaal Williams
• No. 25 Kendre Miller (rookie)
• No. 33 Kirk Merritt
• Roster cuts: No. 35 Ellis Merriweather (rookie), No. 34 Darrel Williams
• Reserve/suspended: No. 41 Alvin Kamara

Fullbacks (1)

Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

• No. 46 Adam Prentice
• Roster cuts: No. 47 Jake Bargas

Tight ends (4)

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

• No. 83 Juwan Johnson
• No. 82 Foster Moreau
• No. 80 Jimmy Graham
• No. 7 Taysom Hill
• Roster cuts: No. 87 Lucas Krull, No. 81 Jesse James, No. 86 J.P. Holtz

Wide receivers (6)

Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

• No. 12 Chris Olave
• No. 13 Michael Thomas
• No. 22 Rashid Shaheed
• No. 17 A.T. Perry (rookie)
• No. 10 Tre’Quan Smith
• No. 18 Keith Kirkwood
• Roster cuts: No. 84 Lynn Bowden, No. 88 Shaquan Davis (rookie), No. 15 Kawaan Baker, No. 85 Jontre Kirklin

Offensive tackles (3)

AP Photo/Brynn Anderson

• No. 71 Ryan Ramczyk (right)
• No. 70 Trevor Penning (left)
• No. 67 Landon Young (swing)
• Roster cuts: No. 72 Storm Norton (right), No. 66 Lewis Kidd (left), No. 61 Chuck Filiaga (rookie, right)

Offensive guards/centers (6)

AP Photo/Adam Hunger

• No. 74 James Hurst (left guard)
• No. 78 Erik McCoy (center)
• No. 51 Cesar Ruiz (right guard)
• No. 75 Andrus Peat (left guard)
• No. 64 Nick Saldiveri (rookie, swing guard)
• No. 73 Max Garcia (center)

• Roster cuts: No. 76 Calvin Throckmorton (swing guard), No. 65 Alex Pihlstrom (rookie, center), No. 62 Tommy Kraemer (left guard), No. 68 Mark Evans II (rookie, right guard)

Special teams (3)

Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

• No. 39 Lou Hedley (rookie, punter)
• No. 19 Blake Grupe (rookie, kicker)
• No. 49 Zach Wood (long snapper)
• Roster cuts: No. 5 Blake Gillikin (punter), No. 3 Wil Lutz (kicker)

Defensive ends (5)

AP Photo/Mark LoMoglio

• No. 94 Cameron Jordan (left)
• No. 96 Carl Granderson (right)
• No. 98 Payton Turner (right)
• No. 92 Tanoh Kpassagnon (left)
• No. 55 Isaiah Foskey (rookie, right)
• Roster cuts: No. 54 Niko Lalos, No. 93 Kyle Phillips

Defensive tackles (4)

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

• No. 93 Nathan Shepherd
• No. 99 Khalen Saunders
• No. 90 Bryan Bresee (rookie)
• No. 97 Malcolm Roach
• Roster cuts: No. 57 Prince Emili, No. 77 Jerron Cage (rookie), No. 95 Jack Heflin

Linebackers (5)

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

• No. 56 Demario Davis
• No. 20 Pete Werner
• No. 45 Nephi Sewell
• No. 53 Zack Baun
• No. 52 D’Marco Jackson
• Roster cuts: No. 59 Jaylon Smith, No. 58 Anfernee Orji (rookie), No. 43 Ryan Connelly, No. 42 Ty Summers, No. 40 Nick Anderson (rookie)

Safeties (6)

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

• No. 32 Tyrann Mathieu
• No. 6 Marcus Maye
• No. 48 J.T. Gray
• No. 28 Lonnie Johnson Jr.
• No. 31 Jordan Howden (rookie)
• No. 0 Ugo Amadi
• Roster cuts: No. 24 Johnathan Abram, No. 38 Smoke Monday

Cornerbacks (4)

AP Photo/Butch Dill

• No. 23 Marshon Lattimore
• No. 29 Paulson Adebo
• No. 1 Alontae Taylor
• No. 27 Isaac Yiadom
• Roster cuts: No. 21 Bradley Roby, No. 37 Troy Pride Jr., No. 44 Adrian Frye (rookie), No. 36 Anthony Johnson (rookie)