Tag: Johnathan Abram

Saints promote practice squad safety Johnathan Abram to their 53-man roster

The Saints promoted practice squad safety Johnathan Abram to their 53-man roster after another injury for Marcus Maye:

An injury to Marcus Maye has prompted the New Orleans Saints to promote practice squad safety Johnathan Abram to their 53-man roster, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. Abram made several appearances earlier this season as a standard elevation from the practice squad — but NFL rules dictate that players must be signed to the 53-man roster in order to suit up for more games after hitting that three-game limit.

Maye was a new addition to the injury report on Wednesday with a shoulder issue, so it makes sense to bring up Abram in case he’s needed on Sunday against the Detroit Lions. The Saints have other backups on the roster like Lonnie Johnson Jr., Ugo Amadi, and J.T. Gray, but it won’t hurt to make Abram available too.

Abram totaled 8 tackles in three games with the Saints earlier this year. Before arriving in New Orleans, the 27-year-old started 34 of his 36 games with the Raiders as a teammate of Derek Carr’s and spent time with the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks.

As for Maye: availability has been a concern with him ever since he signed with the Saints. He was limited to 10 of 17 games last season due to injuries and missed three games this season with a DUI suspension. His five-year run with the New York Jets was marred by injuries, too. He’s in the second year of his three-year contract and needs to prove he’s someone the Saints can count on moving forwards.

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10 free agent/practice squad safeties Broncos could sign after Kareem Jackson suspension

With Kareem Jackson suspended and P.J. Locke injured, the Broncos should add more depth at safety this week.

After losing Kareem Jackson to a suspension for the second time this season, the Denver Broncos are suddenly thin at safety.

P.J. Locke filled in at strong safety during Jackson’s two-game suspension earlier this year, but Locke is now dealing with an ankle injury. Even if Locke is able to play against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, the Broncos will want to add more depth at the position.

Delarrin Turner-Yell has been good on special teams this season, but he’s been a huge liability in the secondary. Denver can’t afford to lean on Turner-Yell if Locke misses any games during Jackson’s suspension, and rookie JL Skinner has been inactive for all but one game this year.

To add more depth at safety, the Broncos should look to the free agent market. In addition to considering street free agents, Denver could also sign a player off another team’s practice squad. Here’s a quick list of 10 safeties the Broncos might consider signing.

Marcus Maye reinstated to the Saints’ 53-man roster after serving 3-game suspension

Marcus Maye has been reinstated to the New Orleans Saints’ 53-man roster after serving his three-game suspension. Their secondary just got stronger:

Here’s a big addition to the New Orleans Saints defense: starting free safety Marcus Maye has been reinstated after serving his three-game suspension stemming from a 2021 DUI charge in Florida. The legal proceedings for his case were not concluded until the 2023 preseason, and the NFL has an established precedent of waiting for the legal process to wrap up before issuing its own discipline, so Maye had to wait two years and change teams before being sidelined.

But he’s back now. And he could help a unit that’s already playing at a high level reach even greater heights. Maye is one of seven Saints defenders with an interception this season, having plucked a deflected pass out of the air after cornerback Isaac Yiadom broke it up in the season opener. His return should strengthen an already-stout New Orleans secondary.

Expect the various responsibilities for players around him to revert to what they were prior to his suspension; rookie draft pick Jordan Howden will step back into his role as the team’s dime defensive back, with Johnathan Abram remaining on the practice squad after exhausting his three game-day activations. If the Saints want to continue playing Abram, they’ll have to sign him to the 53-man roster. Odds are strong that they’ll wait until they need him to do that with Maye back in the fold.

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Saints elevate two experienced defensive backs for Week 5’s Patriots game

The Saints elevated two experienced defensive backs for Week 5’s Patriots game, bringing up Johnathan Abram and Daniel Sorensen from the practice squad:

The New Orleans Saints elevated two experienced defensive backs for Week 5’s game with the New England Patriots, bringing up safeties Johnathan Abram and Daniel Sorensen from the practice squad. They’ll be without backup safety Lonnie Johnson (one of their core special teams players) as well as starting free safety Marcus Maye, who is serving the final week of his three-game suspension.

Abram cannot be elevated for any more games this season; if the Saints want to continue playing him, they’ll have to sign him to the 53-man roster. He totaled 56 snaps on defense last Sunday. This is the first of three game-week elevations for Sorensen, who only recently re-signed with the Saints practice squad.

But there’s some good news. Rookie safety Jordan Howden is expected to return to the lineup after missing last week’s game, having returned to practice following surgery on his injured finger. He played well in his first career start against the Green Bay Packers in Week 3 and should continue to earn more snaps during Maye’s absence. But having a pair of players with Abram and Sorensen’s experience waiting in the wings is a nice insurance policy to maintain.

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With injuries mounting in the secondary, Saints elevate two practice squad DB’s

With injuries mounting in the secondary, the Saints elevated two practice squad defensive backs for Week 4’s Buccaneers game:

With injuries mounting in the secondary, the New Orleans Saints elevated two practice squad defensive backs for Week 4’s game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Starting free safety Marcus Maye is still away from the team during his three-game suspension, and his backup Jordan Howden was pre-emptively ruled out for Sunday’s game due to a finger injury. Starting cornerback Paulson Adebo is out with a hamstring injury, too.

So here’s what you need to know about the guys helping to fill in for them: Johnathan Abram and Cameron Dantzler Sr.:

Saints elevate two experienced defensive backs from their practice squad

The Saints elevated two experienced defensive backs from their practice squad for Sunday’s game with the Packers. One of them signed with the team just three days ago:

The New Orleans Saints elevated two experienced defensive backs from their practice squad for Sunday’s game with the Green Bay Packers, per the daily NFL transactions wire. And one of them signed with the team just three days ago: cornerback Cameron Dantzler.

It makes sense to bring up more defensive backs with two starters down this week — cornerback Paulson Adebo won’t play after injuring his hamstring in practice Friday, while free safety Marcus Maye has been suspended the next three games.

Dantzler was given the nod ahead of two younger teammates who were also on the practice squad, Anthony Johnson (a rookie) and Faion Hicks (who played just 30 snaps on special teams with the Denver Broncos last year). Dantzler has played 1,792 snaps in 35 career games, so it’s clear they wanted an experienced player in that reserve role behind Marshon Lattimore, Alontae Taylor, and Isaac Yiadom. Ideally Dantzler won’t see the field. But if he has to, the coaches must trust him better than an inexperienced backup.

The other practice squad defensive back coming up this week is Johnathan Abram. Derek Carr’s old teammate with the Raiders, he’s primarily played strong safety throughout his career but could step into the secondary in a pinch. Hopefully guys like Jordan Howden, Lonnie Johnson Jr., and Ugo Amadi can hold up on the back end during Maye’s absence so that Tyrann Mathieu can continue to line up closer to the line of scrimmage, where he’s been at his best.

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Saints bring back veteran safety Johnathan Abram on their practice squad

The Saints brought back veteran safety Johnathan Abram to their practice squad, adding valuable depth for the 2023 season:

The New Orleans Saints were able to bring veteran safety Johnathan Abram back to their practice squad on Wednesday, having initially released him during a wave of roster cuts at Tuesday’s NFL deadline.

Abram was teammates with Derek Carr on the Raiders, and he added a valuable leadership element to the secondary over the summer as a veteran player who has seen it all. He’s a former first-round pick out of Mississippi State who has appeared in 44 games in the NFL, including the playoffs.

He’ll be backing up the crowd of safeties on the 53-man roster including Tyrann Mathieu, Marcus Maye, J.T. Gray, Jordan Howden, Lonnie Johnson Jr., and Ugo Amadi. Maye could be suspended at some point this season after settling his Florida DUI court case, so Abram’s services might be needed sooner rather than later.

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Meet the Team: Who is Saints DB Johnathan Abram, and what’s expected of him in 2023?

Meet the Team: Who is New Orleans Saints safety Johnathan Abram, and what are realistic expectations for him in 2023?

The safety position has been an area of emphasis for the New Orleans Saints this offseason, with the team endeavoring to add veteran backups like former Seattle Seahawks starter Ugo Amadi and rookie draft picks like Jordan Howden to a depth chart that already features established starters in Tyrann Mathieu and Marcus Maye.

But one of the first safeties they brought in this spring was former Las Vegas Raiders first-round draft pick Johnathan Abram. Why was he such a priority, and what are realistic expectations to have for him in 2023? Let’s get to know him better now that he’s upgraded from silver and black to black and gold:

Derek Carr helped recruit ‘great teammate’ Johnathan Abram to Saints

Derek Carr says he helped recruit Johnathan Abram to the Saints, describing the Raiders’ former first-round pick as a ‘great teammate’

The New Orleans Saints have brought in a couple of Derek Carr’s former Las Vegas Raiders teammates, and he played a part in recruiting at least one of them. Carr shared some insight on veteran safety Johnathan Abram on his nephew Austin’s Harvester Sports Podcast, detailing how he reached out to the Raiders’ former first-round pick in hopes of getting him to New Orleans. Abram later signed a one-year contract with the Saints.

“I was begging him to (sign here),” Carr recounted. “You know, he was going through the process (in free agency). I was like bro, come be a Saint. Stop playing. You know? Come back, let’s do what we can, let’s see if we can go and try to win the NFC South, see what happens after that.”

Abram was known as a high-effort player with the Raiders with a knack for making strong tackles downfield in run defense — the tradeoff being some vulnerabilities that opponents exploited in coverage, kind of like former Saints safety Roman Harper. If Dennis Allen and Joe Woods can get Abram into a position to play to his strengths, maybe Abram can make a positive impact.

“I love John, he’s a great teammate. He plays so hard,” Carr emphasized. We’ll see if Abram’s on-field production can live up to the billing, but it says a lot that his old quarterback is willing to go to bad for him like this.

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Saints, defensive coaching staff emphasizing secondary for good reason

The #Saints defensive coaching staff is loaded with secondary specialists, and they’re building a roster to reflect that, via @RossJacksonNOLA:

As the second wave of NFL free agency picked up, the New Orleans Saints went back to the open market with a seemingly very specific focus. After adding cornerback Troy Pride Jr. to a reserve/future deal and signing safety Ugo Amadi earlier this offseason, the Saints retained their best special teamer and key depth on the backend of their defense by re-signing safety J.T. Gray to a three-year deal. But they didn’t stop there when it came to building out their secondary. The Saints instead continued to focus on a position group they know best.

Since free agency opened on March 15, the Saint have signed defensive backs Lonnie Johnson Jr. and Johnathan Abram while also retaining cornerback Isaac Yiadom. Yiadom was a fantastic special teams acquisition in 2023 primarily making noise as a punt gunner opposite the All-Pro Gray. But the additions of Johnson and Abram stand out.

The Saints have a full safety room before draft month:

  • Tyrann Mathieu
  • Marcus Maye
  • JT Gray
  • Johnathan Abram
  • Ugo Amadi
  • Lonnie Johnson Jr.
  • Smoke Monday (returning from injured reserve)

Add in cornerbacks Marshon Lattimore, Paulson Adebo, Alontae Taylor, Bradley Roby, Troy Pride Jr., Isaac Yiadom and Vincent Gray and New Orleans has clearly put an emphasis on its defensive back units and their depth at corner and safety. But perhaps this shouldn’t be much of a surprise given the team’s specializations on the defensive coaching staff.

Both head coach Dennis Allen and defensive coordinator Joe Woods are defensive backs specialists. They have successful histories as secondary coaches and Woods added a prolific 2019 season as a pass-game coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers. The Niners ranked No. 1 across the NFL in passing yardage allowed that season. Add to that duo another new coaching staff addition: secondary coach Marcus Robertson.

Robertson was a fourth-round draft pick by the Houston Oilers in 1991. The 12-year NFL safety went on to total 24 career interceptions and was selected First-Team All-Pro in 1993. He’s been coaching defensive backs in the league since 2007 and has worked with star coverage players like Michael Griffin, Jason McCourtney, Charles Woodson. Aqib Talib, Patrick Peterson and Budda Baker.

It’s no wonder that the Saints have put a big focus on defensive backs so far this offseason. They have the talent to develop players at these positions on the coaching staff. And the unit’s intending starting lineup in 2022 never took a single snap together. So bringing in talent with upside is one part of it all, building out the depth the other.

Last year, they were without their top cornerback, Lattimore, for 11 games with a lacerated kidney. Maye missed a total of 7 games here and there throughout the year. Taylor and Adebo each missed 4 games a piece and Roby, who was expected to man the slot, also missed 4 games after suffering an injury just five snaps in to the Thursday Night Football matchup with the Arizona Cardinals.

Not a single snap taken with Lattimore, Adebo, Roby, Maye and Mathieu on the field in 2022. That’s a tough pill to swallow, but something this team looks like it’s going to be ready to handle if the worst-case scenario were to repeat itself. The Saints now have a ton of talent in a defensive backs room that absolutely needed attention as free agency opened, especially with a DUI suspension still possible for Maye, but also have the coaching staff to develop that talent as well.

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