Letting go of young players so early in their careers is an unpleasant side of the business, but that’s life in the NFL. The New Orleans Saints waived defensive end Nathan Latu on Thursday to open a roster spot for veteran cornerback Mac McCain. Offseason rosters are capped at 90 players, and the Saints were at capacity after waiving cornerback Faion Hicks last week while signing tight end Jesper Horsted.
Latu had signed with them in late April as an undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma State, but he didn’t participate at rookie minicamp, OTAs, or last week’s mandatory minicamp. He may have been dealing with an undisclosed injury. The Saints only guaranteed $3,000 of his contract so there won’t be much of an impact on their salary cap by releasing him.
Still, it’s a disappointing end to his time in New Orleans. But that’s the case for many young pros as teams churn the bottoms of their depth charts over the summer. They’ll be recruited hard by NFL teams in the hours after the draft in April and cast aside by roster cuts in August if they can’t make a quick (and positive) impression. Good luck to Latu in wherever he lands next.
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