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The New Orleans Saints reported just two moves on the daily NFL transactions wire Thursday: the signing of wide receiver Tommylee Lewis to their practice squad and the waiving of offensive lineman Will Clapp from the 53-man roster.
This comes just days after Clapp was signed to the roster from the practice squad, which was preceded by him first being waived on Sept. 26. That’s kind of tough to follow, so here’s the timeline laid out a little more clearly:
- Sept. 26: Clapp waived from active roster
- Sept. 29: Clapp signed to practice squad
- Oct. 3: Clapp promoted to active roster
- Oct. 8: Clapp waived from active roster (again)
So he’s been moved on and off of the team four times in the last two weeks (give or take a day). The Saints practice squad is back to its 16-man capacity (cornerback Ken Crawley and tight end Garrett Griffin reverted to it after being called up for Week 4’s game with the Detroit Lions), so it’s not immediately certain that Clapp will return. But this does suggest there’s a pattern to his transactions as the Saints work within the limits of NFL roster rules.
It’s familiar territory for them. The Saints signed, waived, and re-signed practice squad quarterback J.T. Barrett 28 times from May 2018 to October 2019, which came up just short of former wideout Andy Tanner’s record (having been involved with 29 Saints roster moves from 2011 to 2015). Clapp is someone they’re comfortable dressing for games in a pinch, but also a player the Saints trust can pass through waivers uncontested. We’ll see if the gamble pays off or if his time is already up in New Orleans.
Depending on how the Thursday injury report shakes out, Clapp’s services may no longer be needed. Left guard Andrus Peat is working to return from injury and veteran backup James Hurst just came off the NFL suspended list. They have other reserves like Cameron Tom and Calvin Throckmorton waiting on the practice squad, and a group of four free agent linemen went through a tryout earlier this week. So it’s possible that this is it for Clapp, but we won’t be shocked if he returns soon enough.
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