As the New Orleans Saints wrap up their preseason action, focus now turns to the final round of roster cuts. By 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Aug. 30 all teams across the league must trim their rosters down to 53 players. After which, more moves and changes will surely be made.
Wide receiver, linebacker, running back and, following a serious injury to rookie left tackle Trevor Penning, the offensive line all take center stage. But more storylines are worth watching as well, including the tough decision to be made around quarterback Ian Book who impressed in the preseason finale against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Some players, like Book, did themselves some favors Friday night furthering their case to make the roster. New Orleans will have some tricky decisions to make leading up to Tuesday’s deadline and more to follow. Here is a projection of what the initial 53-man roster may look like at each position, some possible impending transactions thereafter and a swing at the 16-man practice squad as well.
Quarterbacks (2)
No.2 Jameis Winston
No. 14 Andy Dalton
Roster cuts: No. 16 Ian Book
Practice squad: No. 16 Ian Book
This is Winston’s team and he left no doubts on that with an excellent preseason debut on Friday night. He led a 9-play scoring drive that had to make up for 15 penalty yards along the way with what looked like effortless execution. Right behind him, Dalton put together a 9-play touchdown drive himself, both were capped off by a Mark Ingram run in the redzone. Those two are set in stone as the team’s quarterbacks going into 2022. Dalton provides invaluable depth and experience while Winston looks ready to pick right back up right where he left off last year.
Book played what was the best showing of his young NFL career thus far Friday night. But unfortunately for him, it’s more than just performance that dictates his roster opportunity. Outside of his control, the numbers may simply work against him. With Taysom Hill now playing tight end, the Saints could go into 2022 with only two signal callers on the roster and have an emergency quarterback built in without taking up an additional spot. That means Book would become a prime practice squad candidate assuming he makes it through waivers.
Running backs (5)
No. 41 Alvin Kamara
No. 5 Mark Ingram II
No. 24 Dwayne Washington
No. 34 Tony Jones Jr
No. 46 Adam Prentice (fullback)
Roster cuts: No. 33 Abram Smith…
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