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The New Orleans Saints aren’t finished tweaking their roster just yet. As first reported by The Athletic’s Katherine Terrell, on Thursday the team waived practice squad offensive lineman Nate Wozniak to open a spot for fourth-year tight end Jerell Adams. This follows a concussion to starting tight end Jared Cook in last week’s game with the San Francisco 49ers, as well as the previous release of reserve tight end Dan Arnold.
Adams first entered the NFL as a sixth-round draft pick out of South Carolina, selected by the New York Giants back in 2016; he had boosted his draft stock before that by timing the 40-yard dash in 4.64 seconds at 6-foot-5 and 247 pounds, the best mark for a tight end at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. He played sparingly as a rookie, and was outranked the following year by first-round pick Evan Engram and veteran free agent pickup Rhett Ellison. Adams was waived by New York during roster cuts before the 2018 season.
He went on to spend the better part of two years on the Houston Texans practice squad, having been just released on Dec. 3 before the Saints called him up. There are practice snaps to go around with Arnold out of town and Cook on the mend, with just one healthy, experienced tight end (backup Josh Hill) and a converted defensive lineman (Mitchell Loewen) ahead of him. If Adams still has some athleticism to spare, he’s in good position to take advantage of the opportunity before him.
For the curious, here’s how the Saints practice squad shakes out now:
- WR Emmanuel Butler
- WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey
- DT Taylor Stallworth
- OL Derrick Kelly
- OL John Leglue
- RB Taquan Mizzell
- DB T.J. Green
- LB Andrew Dowell
- TE/DL Mitchell Loewen
- TE Jerell Adams
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