Offensive lineman Collin Buchanan waived by Saints with ‘left squad’ designation

Per Friday’s NFL Transaction Report, the New Orleans Saints waived offensive lineman Collin Buchanan with a left squad, partially guaranteed contract designation.

I can’t exactly recall seeing a ‘left squad’ as a reason for being waived, so I had to do a little digging into it. According to The Football Educator (and no, I’m not ashamed to use this for a rare case like this one), here’s the essence of it:

If a player leaves his club without permission after reporting to training camp, the club may place the player on its Reserve List as Left Squad, pursuant to the restrictions and procedures that appear in this section.

A player who is placed on Reserve/Left Squad shall remain on the Reserve List of his club for the remainder of the regular season and postseason and shall not be eligible to be reinstated to the Active List of the club or any other club until the year following the season in which he was placed in such category. He is ineligible to play, practice, or attend meetings of his club or any club in the League or to use the facilities of his club or any other club in any manner whatsoever for the remainder of the regular season and postseason. No player in the category of Reserve/Left Squad may be traded to another club in the League in the same season in which he is placed in such category, nor may a club request waivers for or terminate a player who is on Reserve/Left Squad in the same season in which he is placed in such category.

If a player is placed on Reserve/Left Squad by his club, the obligation of the player to perform services as a player for the club in that season shall be tolled, and the term of such player’s contract to his club for the balance of that season shall be extended and shall not commence until the player returns to professional football for such club. Any renewal option for such player’s services shall be tolled and shall remain in effect until the end of such extended term of the contract. During the period that the player is on Reserve/Left Squad, he shall not be allowed to play football for any other club engaged in professional football, and such player shall not be entitled to any compensation, expenses, or other payments from his club under his contract.

According to The Advocate’s Nick Underhill, Buchanan was given a $10,000 signing bonus with an additional $10,000 of his base salary guaranteed as an undrafted free agent. News broke that he was heading to the Saints on April 29, and the official transaction went down on Wednesday. There’s no telling what happened or what went wrong, but it’s certainly a very strange case.

After a quick glance, one of the last instances I saw with this designation was back in 2012 with Chargers offensive tackle Taylor Dever.