Saints sign another wide receiver from Antonio Brown’s group workout

The New Orleans Saints signed free agent wide receiver Maurice Harris, formerly of the Patriots and Redskins, to a reserve/futures contract.

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The New Orleans Saints signed veteran wide receiver Maurice Harris to a reserve/futures contract, as first reported by Nola.com’s Amie Just. Harris, 27, spent the 2019 offseason with the New England Patriots after starting his career with the Washington Redskins. He’s got nice size for the position at 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, and has caught 40 of 65 targets (61.5%) for 432 receiving yards (10.8 yards per reception) in 28 career games, all with Washington.

Harris was also suggested as the best wide receiver at Patriots training camp last year, before his year ended on injured reserve with a vague lower-leg issue. Interestingly, he was one of the other wide receivers to participate in the Saints’ infamous late-season workout with a group of free agents including Tommylee Lewis and Antonio Brown. He joins Tim White as the only players to sign with the Saints after that tryout.

Now that he’s signed a reserve/futures contract, Harris will count against New Orleans’ 90-man offseason roster. He joins a sketchy wide receivers depth chart that includes White, Michael Thomas, Tre’Quan Smith, Deonte Harris, Emmanuel Butler, and Krishawn Hogan. Keith Kirkwood and Lil’Jordan Humphrey are exclusive-rights free agents who should stick around on minimum-salary contracts. Ted Ginn Jr. and Austin Carr are also headed for free agency, but it would be a surprise if they don’t test the open market.

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Saints report Antonio Brown, Tommylee Lewis among six free agent tryouts

The New Orleans Saints worked out six free agent wide receivers including Antonio Brown, Tommylee Lewis, and Maurice Harris on Friday.

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Antonio Brown may have been the most noteworthy free agent wide receiver to try out for the New Orleans Saints on Friday, but he wasn’t alone. Brown was one of six receivers the Saints put through a workout at the team practice facility, including two familiar names in Travin Dural and Tommylee Lewis.

The full list of tryout players comes from what the Saints reported on the official NFL transactions wire:

  • Antonio Brown
  • Reggie Begelton
  • Travin Dural
  • Maurice Harris
  • Tommylee Lewis
  • Tim White

Dural hung around the Saints practice squad for a few years, after initially signing with the team as an undrafted free agent out of LSU. Lewis had a more prominent role on special teams as a punt and kick returner, though he struggled to carve out a role on offense. The less said of his involvement in last year’s NFC championship game debacle the better.

Lewis was selected early in the inaugural XFL Draft by the Dallas Renegades, so he clearly has options if this Saints tryout doesn’t bare any fruit. There’s worse ways to continue playing professionally than in a Bob Stoops-designed offense with Landry Jones lobbing the ball deep downfield as often as he’ll be allowed.

An interesting addition to the free agent pool was Begelton; he was the engine fueling the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders offense in 2019, having caught 102 passes for 1,444 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. He certainly has some ability.

For now, the Saints haven’t signed Lewis, Begelton, Brown, or anyone else who attended Friday’s workout.

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