Tag: Chase Hansen

Saints send Mark Ingram II to injured reserve, designate multiple others to return

The Saints sent Mark Ingram II to injured reserve while designating multiple others to return, including starting center Erik McCoy. Catch up on the latest roster moves:

The New Orleans Saints filed a series of roster moves on Wednesday’s update to the daily NFL transactions wire, shuffling a couple of players to and from the injured reserve list while restocking some depth on the 53-man roster and practice squad. Here’s what you need to know about each new arrival, departure, and injury situation:

Saints activate P.J. Williams from injured reserve among last-minute roster moves

Saints activate P.J. Williams from injured reserve, sign Kevin White to the 53-man roster among last-minute roster moves:

There we go: the New Orleans Saints announced a series of last-minute roster moves ahead of Monday night’s kickoff with the Baltimore Ravens, calling up several players from various reserve lists. This brings some ramifications for players already on the roster, but for the most part these are predictable moves. Let’s break down each transaction reported Monday afternoon:

Saints sign QB Jake Luton to their practice squad, promote LB Chase Hansen

The Saints are signing quarterback Jake Luton to their practice squad and promoting linebacker Chase Hansen, which answers our question about that last roster spot:

There’s another quarterback in New Orleans, with ESPN’s Field Yates reporting Tuesday that the Saints have signed journeyman Jake Luton to their practice squad. It made sense to look for another arm after losing second-year draft pick Ian Book to the Philadelphia Eagles during final roster cuts, and Luton’s arrival helps round out the roster at capacity.

Luton, 26, is a third-year veteran who has spent time with the Jacksonville Jaguars — who drafted him in the sixth round back in 2020 — as well as the Seattle Seahawks and Miami Dolphins after turning pro out of Oregon State (he also played college football at Idaho). He’s most recently returned to the Jaguars for training camp but was waived in late August. He’ll be helping the team to run drills smoothly throughout weekly practices as the third passer on the depth chart behind Jameis Winston and Andy Dalton.

Because the Saints already had 16 players on their practice squad (meeting the league-mandated limit), they had to open a spot for Luton by promoting linebacker Chase Hansen to the 53-man roster. And as it happened, the Saints already had a vacancy on the roster after slotting in just 52 players last week. So Hansen goes to the active roster (where he’ll join Demario Davis, Pete Werner, Kaden Elliss, Andrew Dowell, and Zack Baun) while Eric Wilson and Nephi Sewell remain on the practice squad. More minor roster moves could be coming, so stay tuned.

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WATCH: Chase Hansen makes a splash with a big interception and return

Third year Saints player Chase Hansen adds to his case to make the final roster with a huge interception and return against the Texans. Watch the highlight here, via @DillySanders:

Chase Hansen started off his third season in the NFL with a huge interception in the New Orleans Saints first preseason game against the Houston Texans. Hansen was signed back to the team on August 8th and is now fighting to make the the final roster. The Saints are clearly looking for another gamechanger in the linebacker room. Huge plays like this will certainly help his case.

Fellow linebacker Eric Wilson tipped the pass from Jeff Driskel into the air which was caught by Hansen who followed his blockers down the field for 44 yards. This was a huge momentum swing for the Saints as the Texans scored 10 straight points off of Saints turnovers.

Saints roster moves: Lil’Jordan Humphrey, Ken Crawley return from COVID-19 reserve

Saints roster moves: Lil’Jordan Humphrey, Ken Crawley return from COVID-19 reserve

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The New Orleans Saints reported a couple of roster moves on Wednesday’s update to the daily NFL transactions wire, including the return of two players from the COVID-19 reserve list. Here’s everything you need to know:

Saints waive LB Chase Hansen, freeing up badly-needed salary cap space

Saints waive LB Chase Hansen, freeing up a roster spot and badly-needed salary cap space

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Well this is interesting. Tuesday’s update to the daily NFL transactions wire included the release of linebacker Chase Hansen from the New Orleans Saints active roster, which both freed up a spot on the 53-man lineup and opened up roughly $450,000 in salary cap space, give or take a couple thousand dollars.

That’s significant for a team that opened business on Tuesday under the cap by just $1,099,450, per NFL records. The Saints should now have almost $1.55 million to work with — and with a highly sought-after free agent now available in Pro Bowl wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., these resources might prove critical.

It’s a tough break for Hansen, who was just activated from injured reserve Monday evening after he spent most of the season recovering from an injured groin muscle. But he could return to the practice squad if he clears waivers; the Saints have had an open spot on the 16-strong list for a week or so, and all seven linebackers on the 53-man roster have been active on game days lately. The Saints have invested a lot of time in Hansen and he’s worth keeping around.

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Saints activate LB Chase Hansen from injured reserve

The Saints activated linebacker Chase Hansen after designating him to return from injured reserve:

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Some help is on the way for the New Orleans Saints, who activated linebacker Chase Hansen after designating him to return from injured reserve. Hansen had been sidelined since Week 2 with a groin muscle issue. Now he’s back on the 53-man roster though it’s unclear what role he could play.

Hansen competed for a backup job over the offseason, doing his best work on special teams alongside Andrew Dowell. He was inactive for the season opener and may continue to be a healthy scratch on game days, with few snaps on defense to go around behind Demario Davis, Kwon Alexander, and Pete Werner. Kaden Elliss is also ahead of him on the depth chart.

We’ll know soon whether other injured Saints players will be able to return or not. Tight end Nick Vannett and cornerback Ken Crawley have two more days remaining in their 21-day practice window, though Crawley is also in COVID-19 protocols and that changes things for him.

If Vannett isn’t activated to join the 53-man roster like Hansen was by Thursday, Nov. 11, he’ll go back to injured reserve and be shut down for the season, as was the case for Pro Bowl kicker Wil Lutz. But Vannett has been participating in practice in recent weeks and could get the green light soon. We’ll just have to wait and see.

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Saints designate three more players to return from injured reserve

Saints designate three more players to return from injured reserve

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More help is on the way for the New Orleans Saints with three more players designated to return from injured reserve on Thursday, all of whom practiced with their teammates for the first time in weeks. Saints head coach Sean Payton said this was coming during his morning media availability session, and now we know exactly which players are working their way back.

While there’s a chance they could play on Monday night against the Seattle Seahawks, that shouldn’t be our expectation. Designating them to return only opens a window in which they can practice. If they’re able to play so soon, get excited. But don’t expect that and then feel let down.

New Orleans previously designated a list of starters including kicker Wil Lutz, linebacker Kwon Alexander, defensive end Marcus Davenport, and wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith to come back from injuries. Here’s who joined them:

Saints sign LB Chase Hansen back to their practice squad

The New Orleans Saints signed former Utah linebacker Chase Hansen back to their practice squad, putting it back to its 16-man capacity.

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The New Orleans Saints practice squad is back to its full capacity after re-signing linebacker Chase Hansen on Thursday, who was waived from the active roster earlier this week to make room for new backup quarterback Trevor Siemian.

Hansen signed with the Saints as an undrafted rookie out of Utah last season, but he missed his rookie year while recovering from offseason surgery on a herniated disc in his back. He initially made the roster outright in 2020 and played 13 snaps on special teams in the season opener before landing on injured reserve with a hip issue. He was a healthy scratch since returning from I.R. and before being waived by New Orleans.

So for now, every slot is filled on the Saints 53-man roster and 16-man practice squad. We’ll see whether the Saints make any adjustments to this week’s game-day roster by calling up any players from the practice squad, but at this the team appears to be set — at least until Drew Brees can return from the rib and shoulder injuries that put him on I.R. as well.

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Saints parting with Nigel Bradham is big news for Zack Baun

The New Orleans Saints cut Nigel Bradham, giving a nod to their young linebackers like Zack Baun, Kaden Elliss, Chase Hansen, and Joe Bachie

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On paper, Nigel Bradham is the sort of player most teams would want to have on their roster. He’s an NFL veteran entering his ninth year at the pro level, and a Super Bowl champion from his time with the Philadelphia Eagles. Even if he didn’t start ahead of promising youngsters like rookie draft pick Zack Baun or Alex Anzalone, having someone with as many quality reps to his credit is valuable.

But that didn’t stop the New Orleans Saints from releasing Bradham on Monday, just weeks after signing him and with just a handful of padded practice sessions on the books. So what gives?

One explanation would be how impressive the new additions have looked in training camp. Baun and Anzalone specifically have dominated practice reps with the first-team defense, playing together with Demario Davis in base sets and rotating in and out next to Davis in more-common nickel formations. And Baun’s college experience as a hand-in-the-dirt defender on the line of scrimmage gives him some versatility that Bradham lacks.

But it’s deeper than Bradham not being able to crack the starting lineup. The Saints have several backups they’re invested in, like second-year pros Kaden Elliss (a sixth-round draft pick out of Idaho) and Chase Hansen (a college safety from Utah who lost his rookie year to an injury). Longtime special teams captain Craig Robertson is also in the mix, and so is rookie standout Joe Bachie.

Bachie, an undrafted free agent signed from Michigan State, made a quick impression on Saints linebackers coach Michael Hodges (who is also very high on Baun). He just hopes Bachie can chip in enough on special teams to make the roster.

Hodges talked up Bachie in his Aug. 19 media conference call: “I love Joe, he is so smart. He could play all three positions for us and that’s without even repping at the sam linebacker. He’s just such a veteran linebacker, inside linebacker, meaning this guy’s been playing mike linebacker since he’s been nine years old so there are a lot of things that carry over.”

So if Bradham wasn’t going to start next to Davis or make an impact on the kicking game (he never played more than 59 special teams snaps in a full season during his four years with the Eagles), the Saints probably figured that they would be better served running with the first- and second-year linebackers instead.

We’ll see if that gamble plays off. But so far, it’s easy to see why they’re so encouraged with the youth movement on defense.

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