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The New Orleans Saints made their signing of veteran defensive back DeShawn Shead official on Wednesday, listing his addition on the daily NFL transactions report. Interestingly, the Saints designated him to play safety; Shead’s NFL experience as been limited to cornerback in his seven-year career, though he tried out at safety for the Seattle Seahawks during their 2019 training camp and preseason. It didn’t stick, however, and he’s been a free agent since.
This might suggest that the Saints don’t expect Shead to play right away, despite injuries to starting free safety Marcus Williams and strong safety Vonn Bell. They adjusted on the fly during last week’s game with the Tennessee titans by subbing in cornerback P.J. Williams and rookie defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson, each of whom have spent the bulk of the season defending the slot. Asking Shead to learn a new position and playbook after three-ish days of practice is a tall order. But it obviously can’t be ruled out given how thinly the Saints are spread in the secondary.
Additionally, the Saints reported that they signed second-year center Casey Dunn to their practice squad. The Green Bay Packers poached rookie offensive lineman John Leglue from the Saints practice squad last week, making an availability for Dunn.
Listed at 6-foot-4 and 307 pounds, played three years at Jacksonville State before transferring to Auburn, and he was signed as an undrafted rookie by the Washington Redskins in 2018. He suited up for each of their first two games before being demoted to their practice squad, and he spent some of the 2019 offseason on injured reserve before being released on September 24. Now, he’ll get a late-season tryout with the Saints.
Here’s the updated Saints practice squad:
- OL Casey Dunn
- DL Jalen Dalton
- CB Chris Johnson
- TE Jerrell Adams
- LB Andrew Dowell
- WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey
- WR Emmanuel Butler
- RB/WR Taquan Mizzell
- OL Derrick Kelly
- TE/DL Mitchell Loewen
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