The New Orleans Saints have finalized their practice squad for the 2020 season.
Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis announced earlier this week that the Saints has signed the following players to practice squad contracts: LB Joe Bachie, LB Anthony Chickillo, LB Andrew Dowell, WR Bennie Fowler, TE Garrett Griffin, CB Kemon Hall, WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey, DL Margus Hunt, WR Juwan Johnson, RB Tony Jones Jr. , TE Tommy Stevens, OL Calvin Throckmorton, G/C Cameron Tom and DB Keith Washington Jr..
- Bachie was signed by Saints after going undrafted out of Michigan State. Bachie was a four-year letterman and two-time team captain for the Spartans. The Berea, Ohio native was a three-year starting middle linebacker, playing in 40 career games with 34 starts, recording 285 tackles, 27.5 tackles for loss, eight sacks, five interceptions, 11 passes defensed, five forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. As a senior in 2019, he was a third-team All-Big Ten (media) selection, as he ranked fifth on the team with 71 tackles in eight games, all starts, adding 8.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, four passes defensed and one interception and was named a semifinalist for the Butkus Award and quarterfinalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy
- Chickillo was signed by New Orleans in the offseason and participated in training camp after originally being selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft out of the University of Miami (Fla.) and spending his first five seasons in Pittsburgh. He has recorded 67 tackles (40 solo), 7.5 sacks for loss of 59.5 yards, three passes defensed, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, 28 special teams stops, a coverage forced fumble, two special teams fumble recoveries and a recovery of a blocked punt for a touchdown.
- Dowell was originally signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent out of Michigan State in 2019 and after going to training camp with the Cowboys, spent the final five weeks of the regular season and preseason week one on the Black and Gold practice squad. Dowell was a three-year starter at linebacker for the Spartans, posting 260 tackles, including 15 for losses with 5.5 sacks, 16 breakups, three fumble was recoveries, two forced fumbles and an interception.
- Fowler was originally signed by Denver as an undrafted free agent in 2014 out of Michigan State. Fowler has appeared in 63 regular season contests and started 12 games for Denver (2015-17) and the New York Giants (2018-19), posting career totals of 95 receptions for 1,090 yards with six touchdowns, signing with New Orleans in the 2020 offseason.
- Griffin was originally signed as an undrafted free agent out of the Air Force Academy in 2016. He made a four-yard reception in the 2017 regular season finale and recorded two receptions for 12 yards, including a five-yard touchdown in the 2018 NFC Championship game before spending his last campaign on Injured Reserve.
- Hall was originally signed as a college free agent by the Los Angeles Chargers in 2019 out of North Texas, posting eight tackles in the preseason. After stints on both the Chargers and Vikings practice squad, the Calhoun City, Miss. native signed with New Orleans midway through 2020 training camp.
- Humphrey originally signed with Orleans as an undrafted free agent 2019 out of Texas, making four grabs for 103 yards and one touchdown in the 2019 preseason. He played in five regular season games with one start and one postseason contest as a rookie in 2019.
- Hunt was signed by New Orleans in the 2020 offseason and participated in training camp. Originally selected by the Bengals in the second round (53rd overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft out of Southern Methodist, the Karksi-Nuia, Estonia native has appeared in 91 career games with 25 starts, totaling 101 tackles (68 solo), 7.5 sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and seven passes defensed for the Bengals and Colts.
- Johnson was signed by New Orleans following the 2020 NFL Draft out of Oregon, where he played in 2019 as a graduate transfer after spending his first three seasons at Penn State. In four college seasons,he played in 47 games and recorded 111 receptions for 1,590 yards and six touchdowns.
- Jones signed with New Orleans as an undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame in 2020, for whom he was a four-year letterman. In 2019 he started 12 games on the season, rushing for 857 yards and six touchdowns as he became the tenth player in school history with five or more 100-yard rushing games in one season.
- Stevens was New Orleans’ seventh-round draft choice (240th overall) who spent his graduate transfer season at Mississippi State after graduating from Penn State in December, 2018 with a degree in telecommunications. In his lone season at Mississippi State, the Indianapolis, In. native started all nine games he appeared in while completing 60.2 percent (97‐of‐161) of his passes for 1,155 yards and 11 touchdowns with only five interceptions (136.9 rating). Stevens also added 381 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 83 attempts.
- Throckmorton was originally signed as an undrafted free agent out of Oregon in 2020. He made 52 consecutive starts (right tackle-41, left tackle-5, right guard-3, center-3) for the Ducks and allowed just one sack over his final 3,224 snaps (45 contests).
- Tom was originally signed as an undrafted free agent out of Southern Mississippi in 2017 and has played in 11 regular season games and two postseason contests with one start at right guard for New Orleans.
- Washington was signed by New Orleans following the 2020 NFL Draft out of West Virginia. The Prattville, Ala. native played two seasons for the Mountaineers after spending the 2017 campaign at Copiah-Lincoln (Miss.) Community College and 2015-16 at Michigan. In three FBS seasons, he played in 31 games with 17 starts and posted 66 tackles (52 solo), 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, six interceptions, 18 passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.