Locks For The 53 And Who's Competing For The Remaining Spots In 2024

There are a number of players we probably can all agree on that will be locks to make the Saints final 53-man roster, baring trades, injuries or retirement, which at this point are unforeseen and useless to speculate on, with the exception being that of Ryan Ramczyk. The uncertainty at the backup QB position as of now has me thinking that the Saints might carry more QBs on the 53-man roster than in years past with one of them being designated as the EQB3 which effectively, is a free gameday roster spot. That would include Carr and Hill with either Haener and/or Rattler being the 3rd and/or 4th. If both Haener and Rattler show promise in camp the Saints may be forced to keep both on the 53-man roster and not expose either to the waiver wire on cutdown day trying to place one or the other on the practice squad. If one of them shows less and struggles in preseason the Saints may take that risk. Once players clear the final cutdown and clear waivers they can be resigned to the practice squad and the team can protect up to 4 players each week from being poached from their practice squad. I think the Saints will go the latter route, so they don't have to commit 4 roster spots on the 53-man roster to QBs. The question is which Quarterback will they risk losing by cutting and placing him on waivers prior to resigning him to the practice squad?

With all of that being said, let's take a look at the locks for roster spots as of today, how the roster may be shaped, and who is competing for the remaining spots.


Offense (25) - Locks - 14

Quarterback (3) - Locks - (2) Carr, Hill
Running Back (4) - Locks - (3) Kamara, Miller, Williams
Full Back (1) - Locks - (0) - Open Competition
Tight End (3) - Locks - (2) Moreau, Johnson
Wide Receiver (5) - Locks - (3) Olave, Shaheed, Perry
Offensive Linemen (9) - Locks - (4) McCoy, Ruiz, Fuaga, Penning,

Offense Open Spots - 11

Quarterback - 1 Open Spot - Jake Haener, Spencer Rattler
Running Back - 1 Open Spot - James Robinson, Jordan Mims, Jacob Kibodi
Fullback - 1 Open Spot - Adam Prentice, Zander Horvath
Tight End - 1 Open Spot - Dallin Holker, Michael Jacobson, Tommy Hudson
Wide Receiver - 2 Open Spots - Cedrick Wilson, Jr., Equanimeous St. Brown, Stanley Morgan, Bub Means, Jermaine Jackson, Kyle Sheets, Mason Tipton
Offensive Linemen - 5 Open Spots - Ryan Ramczyk, Nick Saldiveri, Landon Young, Mark Evans II, Justin Heron, Tommy Kraemer, Shane Lemieux, Noun Nouili, Olisaemeka Udoh, Josiah Ezirim, Sincere Haynesworth



Defense (25) - Locks - 19

Defensive Linemen (10) - Locks - (8) Jordan, Granderson, Young, Bresee, Shepherd, Saunders, Turner, Foskey
Defensive Back (10) - Locks - (8) Lattimore, Adebo, Taylor, McKinstry, Mathieu, Howden, Amadi, Gray
Linebacker (5) - Locks - (3) Davis, Werner, Gay


Defense Open Spots (6)

Defensive Linemen - 2 Open Spots - Tanoh Kpassagnon, Jack Heflin, Khristian Boyd, John Penisini, Nick Lalos, Kyler Baugh, Kyle Hergel, Trajan Jeffcoat, Nate Latu
Defensive Back - 2 Open Spots - Jonathan Abram, Will Harris, Faion Hicks, Shemar Jean-Charles, Millard Bradford, Lawrence Johnson, Rico Payton, Rejzohn Wright
Linebacker - 2 Open Spots - D'Marco Jackson, Anfernee Orji, Nephi Sewell, Monty Rice, Jaylan Ford, Khaleke Hudson, Isaiah Stalbird



Specialists (3) - Locks - 1

Long Snapper (1) - Lock -1 - Wood
Punter (1) - Lock - (0) - Open Competition
Kicker (1) - Lock - (0) - Open Competition


Specialists Open Spots (2)

Punter - 1 Open Spot - Lou Hedley, Matthew Hayball
Kicker - 1 Open Spot - Blake Grupe, Charlie Smyth


At first glance from what I see as of today the Saints have 34 locks to make the 53-man roster baring injuries, trades, or retirement from the current players. That leaves 19 spots open for competition for the final roster. The most glaring holes to fill are on the Offensive Line with Wide Receiver and Linebacker next. The most solid positions on the roster appears to be Defensive End and the Defensive Backs. There's room for improvement at almost every other position whether it's for starters or depth. The possibility remains that the Saints will continue to sign free agents that could impact the shape of the roster and position groups. And of course, the post June1st trade/cut possibility remains along with waiver wire moves after the final cutdown.

I can see a slight change in the roster position allotment by keeping 6 WRs or an extra QB on offense with one less RB or one less Lineman but it just seems like the OLine is the weakest link on the team at this point. On defense I can see an extra Linebacker with one less Lineman. For now, this is how I see the Saints structuring their position allotments to fill out the 53-man roster. Additional free agent signings could significantly alter this as well as trades or injuries. The real elephant in the room is the health status of Ryan Ramczyk and whether he will be healthy enough to play this year, will he start off on injured reserve, or will he retire before the season even begins, which is why he is not considered a lock on my initial list, and he's considered more as a wildcard. Obviously if he were to be healthy, he's a solid lock.

As of May 1st, 2024, the Saints have 86 players signed to the roster with 7 drafted players unsigned as of now. The roster limit is 90. The team will have to cut at least 3 of the current players in order to sign all of the drafted players. As in every year, there will be a good bit of churning the bottom of the 90-man prior to the cut down to 53. And we will see roster moves during the season to the practice squad and the 53-man roster throughout the year.

For now, this is just an exercise in narrowing down the spots on the roster that are open for competition between now and the start of the regular season.

Any thoughts on who will be favorites to win some of these position battles? Do you see any other players as locks or players I listed as locks that shouldn't be considered as such as of now?