Tag: Jake Haener

Derek Carr still in concussion protocol after bye week, says Dennis Allen

Derek Carr is still in concussion protocol after the bye week, says New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen:

Here’s something to monitor: New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr is still in concussion protocol coming out of the bye week, head coach Dennis Allen said Monday, Nov. 20. It remains to be seen whether Carr will clear protocol in time to suit up for their upcoming game with the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Nov. 26.

But it’s not too unusual for Carr to start the week of game prep while in the concussion protocol. Most players need a week or two to recover after these brain injuries. The Saints won’t practice as a team until Wednesday and he has time to heal up and receive the green light to play by Sunday’s game. At the same time, it’s possible he’ll have to miss more time. The player’s health takes priority here.

If Carr can’t go, Jameis Winston would likely get the starting nod with Taysom Hill and Jake Haener backing him up. Atlanta has already named Desmond Ridder their starting quarterback after benching him in favor of Taylor Heinicke for a few weeks. Stay tuned for updates on Carr’s status throughout the week.

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Rookie report card: Grading the Saints 2023 draft class at midseason

Rookie report card: How do you grade the New Orleans Saints 2023 draft class at midseason? Have Bryan Bresee and his peers met expectations?

So much hype is built up for the annual NFL draft class, but it isn’t always fair to put such high expectations on rookie players. In many cases there are well-established veteran players in place ahead of them who they need to outwork for snaps in practice, much less in games. And that’s before other inhibiting factors like injuries and suspensions get in the way of their development.

Keep that in mind as we go through our New Orleans Saints rookie report card. The Saints’ 2024 draft class hasn’t had many opportunities to distinguish itself going up to the Week 11 bye, and the seven remaining games in the regular season are going to be critical for many of them. Here’s how we grade each first-year pro’s performance at midseason:

Saints’ draft-day trades have yet to pay off on game days

The Saints made a couple of trades during the 2023 NFL draft that have yet to pay off on game day. Several rookie draft picks are healthy scratches at midseason:

The New Orleans Saints made a couple of trades during the 2023 NFL draft that have yet to pay off on game day, with several rookie draft picks on the inactive report as healthy scratches at midseason: namely offensive lineman Nick Saldiveri and quarterback Jake Haener.

We should preface this by acknowledging that few draft picks, especially mid-rounders like Saldiveri and Haener, are expected to be big contributors. They’re here to watch and learn and develop into players who can help the team later on down the line. It’s a yearslong process for many young pros.

Still, it’s dispiriting to see the Saints invest so many resources in players and get so little in return during their rookie year. They moved up from No. 115 to No. 103 for Saldiveri, expecting a run on offensive linemen early in the fourth round, and he was the prospect they liked the most. It cost them the No. 165 pick (a fifth rounder) to make this move.

But Saldiveri has played just 18 snaps on offense and 19 snaps on special teams through four games; he’s otherwise been a healthy scratch. He started at right tackle during his entire college career at Old Dominion but the Saints have converted him to left guard, only to dress veterans on game day instead. How have the offensive linemen drafted right after Saldiveri performed?

  • Blake Freeland (No. 106 to the Indianapolis Colts) has started five of his seven games at both right tackle (219 snaps) and left tackle (130), totaling 349 snaps.
  • Jake Andrews (No. 107 to the New England Patriots) has been limited to special teams, playing 24 snaps across eight games.
  • Anthony Bradford (No. 108 to the Seattle Seahawks) has started four of his six games at right guard, logging 313 snaps.
  • Dawand Jones (No. 111 to the Cleveland Browns) has started six of his seven games at right tackle, seeing 465 snaps.

One offensive lineman picked after the Saints’ initial selection at No. 115, Sidy Sow (the No. 117 pick by the Patriots), has played 229 snaps across four starts in six games, all at right guard. Two others, Braeden Daniels (No. 118 to the Washington Commanders) and Carter Warren (No. 120 to the New York Jets) have been active for one game between the two of them, only playing special teams.

So the Saints correctly judged the way the board was breaking. But did they take the right player? Do they have the right plan for maximizing Saldiveri’s abilities so he can help the team? It’s a question worth asking when the offensive line has been a mess for most of the season and veterans like Cam Erving have been signed off the street to start at Saldiveri’s college position while the rookie is stuck watching games from the sidelines.

Ultimately this isn’t a big deal. Dressing Saldiveri as the eighth lineman on Sunday against the Chicago Bears instead of someone like Max Garcia or Landon Young isn’t going to dramatically shift the game plan or final result. But it’s not the best use of resources for a Saints team that pinches every penny and scrutinizes every decision when it comes to salary cap management. General manager Mickey Loomis plays fast and loose with draft picks, and it’s gotten him burned at times. Not getting more production out of the multiple picks invested in Saldiveri and Haener is disappointing.

But that’s not to say things can’t turn around. If Saldiveri develops into a starting-quality left guard when Andrus Peat or James Hurst leave in free agency over the next two offseasons and holds that spot down for years, no one will remember him spending his rookie year on the bench.

The same goes for Haener. If he can be a capable backup quarterback for a long time like Chase Daniel was, it’s not going to matter that the Saints effectively so much to get him (trading their 2024 fourth-round pick to move up from No. 227 in the seventh round to No. 127 in the fourth).

Team-building isn’t an easy process in the NFL, and it rarely goes smoothly. Player development is not a linear process. Hopefully both young pros can learn from their experienced teammates and make a positive impact later on down the road.

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Saints reinstate Jake Haener after suspension, waive Jake Luton to open roster spot

The Saints reinstated Jake Haener after the rookie served his six-game suspension, waiving backup quarterback Jake Luton to open a roster spot:

This was expected: the New Orleans Saints reinstated rookie quarterback Jake Haener on Monday after he served his six-game suspension to open the season, waiving backup passer Jake Luton in a corresponding roster move.

Luton’s departure opened a spot on the 53-man roster for Haener, who will retake his place in the lineup behind Derek Carr, Jameis Winston, and Taysom Hill. The Saints traded their fourth-round pick in the 2024 NFL draft (to the Jacksonville Jaguars, this week’s opponent, ironically) so they could move up to the 2023 draft’s fourth round and pick Haener. He’s a young player the team values highly.

Still, don’t expect to see much from Haener this season. This is Carr’s offense — frustrating to watch as it’s been — and he’ll continue to run the show with Winston waiting in the wings and Hill wearing a variety of hats at different position groups. Haener needs to focus on watching, learning, and preparing for his chance to compete for the QB2 job next summer.

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Saints bring back one of their backup QB’s from the Panthers practice squad

The Saints brought back one of their backup QB’s from the Panthers practice squad, suggesting Derek Carr won’t be cleared to play this Sunday:

The New Orleans Saints are signing one of the quarterbacks we suggested they would target: Jake Luton, per ESPN’s Field Yates. Luton was on the Carolina Panthers practice squad but will now join the Saints’ 53-man roster behind Derek Carr, Jameis Winston, and Taysom Hill. He was elevated for their Week 3 game after starting quarterback Bryce Young was held out with an ankle injury, but reverted to the practice squad, making him available for the Saints to pluck away.

NFL rules for this acquisition demand Luton be rostered for at least three weeks in New Orleans, so it’s not like he’s going to sign with their 53-man roster on Tuesday and be send down to the practice squad on Wednesday.

This pickup suggests Carr won’t be available when the Saints kick off with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this Sunday. Saints head coach Dennis Allen has said that Carr will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis as he recovers from a shoulder injury, and he declined to shut the door on Carr playing against the Bucs. But that’s a bit of a long shot and it’s more realistic to expect Winston to start with Carr returning for the following week’s road game with the New England Patriots.

Back to Luton: he spent most of the 2022 season on the Saints practice squad but was let go this spring after the team selected Jake Haener in the 2023 NFL draft. Haener is currently serving a six-game suspension so his return will line up with the end of Luton’s NFL-mandated three weeks on the roster. Look for the Saints to swap one backup for another at that point.

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Jake Haener suspension removes Saints’ advantage with QB3 loophole

Jake Haener suspension removes the Saints’ advantage with the QB3 loophole. Now they’re stuck working with it like every other team:

One ripple effect of the New Orleans Saints losing Jake Haener for the first six games: they’re stuck working with the NFL’s new QB3 rule like every other team rather than taking advantage of a loophole with Taysom Hill’s positional versatility.

The Saints recently changed Hill’s official listing from tight end to quarterback so they could exploit the rule change and have all four quarterback-eligible players dress out on game days.

Had Haener remained available, the Saints could have activated two quarterbacks (Carr and Winston) while keeping a third (Haener) in reserve as the third passer, with Hill also in the game, essentially saving a roster spot to get another backup quarterback. They can still do that without Haener but they’ll be formally activating Carr and Hill with Winston as the third passer. Which is what every other team is doing.

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Jake Haener says he did not knowingly take a banned substance

Jake Haener says he did not knowingly take a banned substance, but he’s prepared to take responsibility and serve his 6-week suspension:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cw3c7jSL9RV/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

New Orleans Saints quarterback Jake Haener said he did not knowingly consume a banned substance after testing positive for it, a violation of the NFL’s performance-enhancing drugs policy, though he’s owning up to the mess and preparing to serve the league-mandated six-week suspension to start his rookie season.

“I would never knowingly cheat the game that I love, however I must take full responsibility for the failed test,” Haener shared in a statement from his official Instagram account, apologizing to the Saints as an organization as well as his friends and family for creating a distraction at such an important part of the NFL’s calendar. Hopefully he learns from the experience and is more careful in the future.

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Jake Haener is paying a hefty price with his 6-week NFL suspension

Jake Haener is paying a hefty price with his 6-week NFL suspension. The Saints QB will forfeit a third of his rookie salary:

Jake Haener is learning an awfully expensive lesson about the NFL’s performance-enhancing substances policy. The New Orleans Saints backup quarterback was set to make $750,000 in base salary this season on his rookie contract — and he’ll forfeit a third of that while serving his six-week suspension to start the season for violating that PED policy.

That comes up to a bill of $250,000, so Haener is paying a hefty price. The young pro is going to have to learn to be more responsible moving forwards. The good news is that he won’t exactly go hungry; Haener received a $700,000 signing bonus earlier this year that won’t be subject to deductions. Still, he’s got to be more careful in the future.

He’ll be eligible to return to the team on Monday, Oct. 16 after their Week 6 road game with the Houston Texans. Haener wasn’t expected to play much this season (if at all) with Jameis Winston ahead of him on the depth chart behind Derek Carr, though Taysom Hill is also listed at quarterback.

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Saints quarterback Jake Haener suspended first 6 games of 2023

Rookie Saints quarterback Jake Haener has been suspended for the first six games of the 2023 season after violating the league PED policy, per NFL Network:

This is disappointing. New Orleans Saints rookie quarterback Jake Haener has been suspended for the first six weeks of the 2023 season due to a violation of the league’s performance-enhancing substance policy, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. Haener will not count against the 53-man roster limit while serving his suspension.

That would explain why the Saints changed Taysom Hill’s official position listing from tight end to quarterback earlier this week. Haener was in line for a reserve role behind Derek Carr and Jameis Winston in his first year in the NFL, and that’s what will be expected of him when he returns after their Week 6 road game with the Houston Texans.

So Alvin Kamara will be eligible to return on Sept. 25 (after the Saints play the Green Bay Packers in Week 3) with Haener returning as soon as Oct. 16. We’re still waiting to see whether NFL discipline will be issued to starting safety Marcus Maye after his Florida DUI case concluded late this summer. Hopefully the Saints can get all hands on deck sooner rather than later.

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Jamaal Williams, Foster Moreau among many Saints changing jersey numbers

Jamaal Williams and Foster Moreau are among many New Orleans Saints changing jersey numbers in the wake of last week’s roster cuts:

A small crowd of New Orleans Saints players are changing jersey numbers in the wake of roster cuts last week, which freed up a lot of coveted numbers — and some big names like running back Jamaal Williams and tight end Foster Moreau are among those making moves. So is rookie quarterback Jake Haener.

Here are all nine players who have switched numbers before the regular season kicks off: