Saints Make Final Roster Cuts

by Saintsational on Aug 30, 2008 4:06 PM CDT Comment 9 comments

The Saints announced their final roster cuts this afternoon, per their official website.

The New Orleans Saints made 14 roster moves today to reach the NFL-mandated active roster limit of 53, it was announced by Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis.

The club has placed CB Greg Fassitt (knee) on Reserve/Injured. The Saints have waived G Andy Alleman, G Tim Duckworth, LB Jo-Lonn Dunbar, WR Skyler Green, RB Lynell Hamilton, DT Orien Harris, LB William Kershaw, K Taylor Mehlhaff, TE Buck Ortega, QB Tyler Palko, DE Josh Savage, FB Olaniyi Sobomehein and WR Joe West.

Beginning Sunday, the Saints and all 32 NFL teams may establish a practice squad of up to eight players. The Saints will open the regular season Sunday, September 7 when they host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 12:00 pm CT.

There ya go guys! What do you think? I see a few surprised on there for me. I really thought Dunbar and Harris might have had a shot. With Mehlhaff now gone, it is safe to say we wasted a draft pick. What do you guys think?

Poll

Are you surprised by any of these cuts?

Yeah, quite a few.

11 votes

Just a couple.

70 votes

None of them.

19 votes

100 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Cuts

Where is Devery Henderson on the cut list? They had better be dangling him in a trade for a draft pick or something, because he has shown he cannot be consistent in catching the ball.

The real question is who on that list will get put on the practice squad.

It is safe to say that a draft pick was wasted on a kicker

by Steve the fan on Aug 30, 2008 4:29 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Pretty much what I expected

With Arrington on IR, of course they would keep Henderson. And David is still valuable to the team…who knows, maybe Gibbs will find a tortilla with an image of Tony Dungy on it and convert to Cover 2.

I was sorry to see Harris cut; I expected Alleman to go, but I was sorry about that, too. (BTW: why isn’t anyone complaining about Alleman being a wasted draft pick? Is there some special rule that you can’t draft a kicker? Or is the Russell Erxleben hangover still not gone yet?) And I’m glad that Craft and Glenn both made it—I predict we’re going to need them before the end of this season.

Oh yeah…and why are you still here, Saintsational?

by MtnExile on Aug 30, 2008 4:39 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Good one-Best post all week maybe!

True, Henderson pretty much had to stay on with AA on IR. And no obvious replacement for JD.

Love that image on a tortilla! Gibbs Gumbo has got to go.

I skimmed the posts on Alleman:

Andy Alleman, Jermon Bushrod This drop is only based on the fact that they were the culprit’s on quite a few penalties.

Andy Alleman has a hip contusion;

Andy Alleman had a very bad practice.

G Andy Alleman didn’t have his best practice of his career. The second-year guard got beat on nearly every snap

No surprise on Alleman.

Payton has now proven he’ll cut a current year draft choice if they aren’t panning out. Antonio Pittman last year, Mehlhaff this year.

LOVE the Erxleben reference. Had to go look it up. I remember him more as a Dallas Cowboy. Dick Nolan drafted him, I guess he thought he needed a good punter since that’s what they did so much.

Wikipedia:

In 1979 he was drafted in the first round (eleventh pick overall) by the New Orleans Saints. The unexpected selection, the eleventh overall in the draft, remains the highest selection of a kicker in the draft. He played ten seasons in the NFL, primarily as a punter. He later played for the Detroit Lions and retired in 1988. Despite his stellar college career, he was not considered a standout on the pro level, and did not make the Pro Bowl during his NFL career.

His first NFL game was a portent of his pro career. On September 2, 1979, the Saints and the archrival Atlanta Falcons went into overtime with the game tied 34-34. Midway through overtime, a snap went over Erxleben’s head and rolled to the goal line. Erxleben picked the ball up and made a hurried chest pass. The pass was intercepted by Atlanta’s James Mayberry at the 6-yard line, and he trotted into the end zone for a touchdown and a 40-34 Falcon victory. The loss proved to be devastating for the Saints, as it cost the team their first winning season. New Orleans finished the year at 8-8, one game behind the Los Angeles Rams, who won the division at 9-7 and played in Super Bowl XIV.

In the 1980 season opener, Erxleben blew a game-tying field goal attempt in a 26-23 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, a team that had won four games over the previous two seasons. The loss was the first of 14 consecutive defeats for the Saints, who ended the year 1-15.

by stujo4 on Aug 30, 2008 5:23 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Melhaff

Surprised by Melhaff cut, but he clearly didn’t win the job.

I feel bad for Skyler.

by xen-cuts on Aug 30, 2008 4:43 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

The final 53, at last

Mehlhaf, Alleman, Palko all gone. I kind of thought they may give Alleman a little more time to prove himself and clean up some of his poor play of late. With that missed FG the other night, I think Mehlhaf made the decision much easier for Payton and company. Palko, after his horrible outings this preseason, seemed like a sure bet for today’s cuts. I wonder who Payton will bring in next as his project QB.

Jason David kept his job. I figured he would. At least he’ll be further down the depth chart now. Without that Arrington injured toe, I think Devery would have been cut. With AA out for the season, it does make some sense to hold on to Devery, even though he has been inconsistent. I would rather see him traded, but if can just stop trying to catch the ball with his body instead of his hands, he may prove himself later on.

Go Saints!!!!

by satchmo26 on Aug 30, 2008 4:50 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

amen

to the Henderson catching the ball with his body comment. How can he do this so far into his career? It baffles me.

by xen-cuts on Aug 30, 2008 4:55 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Cool

I was driving to Nashville all damn day and just got around to reading this. Pretty cool. I like that Palko is gone, and Melhaff WAS a wasted draft pick. As much as I wish Jason and Devery were no longer a part of this team, I understand why they were kept. At least they did their part in lowering their positions with the team. Maybe we won’t see them much.

by jjwest11 on Aug 30, 2008 8:10 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Wasted?

again MtnExile beat me to it.
Why are calling Melhaff a wasted pick and not saying the same for any of the other draft picks we have made that never made it to gameday?

Just becasue they took a chance on a kicker doesnt make it more of a waste then a RB or LB

by MT_always on Aug 31, 2008 12:05 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Alleman got a job pretty quickly

Rotoworld:

Dolphins claimed G Andy Alleman off waivers from the Saints, according to Scout.com’s Adam Caplan.
Alleman was New Orleans’ third-round pick out of Akron in 2007 and the Dolphins needed the depth at guard, where they’re highly inexperienced.
Aug. 31 – 2:51 p.m. ET
Source: scout.com

by stujo4 on Aug 31, 2008 2:12 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs