The 2024 NFL draft is behind us and all eyes are turning to a busy slate of offseason workouts for the New Orleans Saints, all of which leads up to training camp, preseason, and a difficult round of roster cuts before the season starts in September. So which players on the team right now do you see making it to Week 1? How many were on the team last year? In our post-draft projections, just 36 of the 53 players on the opening-day roster a year ago are returning for 2024.
Some players are dealing with serious injuries. All-Pro Ryan Ramczyk’s career is in jeopardy and we aren’t going to assume he’ll make the 53-man roster in Week 1; linebacker Nephi Sewell is recovering from his own knee injury suffered in December, and both will probably start the season on one of the reserve lists.
There are still some tough decisions ahead. In this projection, we have the Saints moving on from one of their former first-round picks (Payton Turner) while also shaking up their kicking situation on special teams (swapping Matthew Hayball for Lou Hedley). We tried to stick close to the numbers the Saints took into Week 1 last year, but we made a few tweaks to represent the state of the roster as it currently stands. Here’s who made the cut:
Continue reading...Some players are dealing with serious injuries. All-Pro Ryan Ramczyk’s career is in jeopardy and we aren’t going to assume he’ll make the 53-man roster in Week 1; linebacker Nephi Sewell is recovering from his own knee injury suffered in December, and both will probably start the season on one of the reserve lists.
There are still some tough decisions ahead. In this projection, we have the Saints moving on from one of their former first-round picks (Payton Turner) while also shaking up their kicking situation on special teams (swapping Matthew Hayball for Lou Hedley). We tried to stick close to the numbers the Saints took into Week 1 last year, but we made a few tweaks to represent the state of the roster as it currently stands. Here’s who made the cut: