The Saints finalized their initial 53-man roster on Tuesday as they embark on a 2022 season with what they hope is a very strong roster. Below are the players that currently make up the roster:
QB (2) Jameis Winston, Andy Dalton
RB (5) Alvin Kamara, Mark Ingram, Adam Prentice, Tony Jones, Jr., Dwayne Washington
WR (6) Michael Thomas, Jarvis Landry, Chris Olave, Deonte Harty, Marquez Callaway, Tre’Quan Smith
TE (4) Adam Trautman, Taysom Hill, Juwan Johnson, Nick Vannett
OL (9) James Hurst, Andrus Peat, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz, Ryan Ramczyk, Trevor Penning, Landon Young, Calvin Throckmorton, Lewis Kidd
DL (9) Cameron Jordan, Shy Tuttle, David Onyemata, Marcus Davenport, Carl Granderson, Peyton Turner, Kentavius Street, Tanoh Kpassagnon, Malcolm Roach
LB (5) DeMario Davis, Peter Werner, Kaden Elliss, Zack Baun, Andrew Dowell
DB (10) Marshon Lattimore, Paulson Adebo, Bradley Roby, Alontae Taylor, Tyrann Mathieu, Marcus Maye, PJ Williams, Justin Evans, JT Gray, Daniel Sorensen
ST (3) Wil Lutz, Blake Gillikin, Zach Wood
A few things to keep in mind about this roster:
- Tre’Quan Smith and Trevor Penning are both injured. Penning will be added to the injured reserve list (IR) once the season officially starts, and there is a good chance Tre’Quan Smith will too. They will be eligible to return, but it will open up two roster spots if both indeed go on IR. At this point expect the Saints to either bring back players recently released or sign other new players to the active roster.
- Receiver Kawaan Baker starts on the suspended list for using Performance Enhancing Drugs and will be eligible to return to the team after six games.
- This is a fluid situation where there will be roster movement leading up to the Falcons season opener. Players on the team now may be shuffled off between now and then.
The big name you don’t see on this list of players, of course, is Chauncey Gardner-Johnson. He was traded to the Eagles, along with a Saints’ seventh round pick, in return for a fifth and sixth round pick. We have covered this trade extensively on the Saints Happy Hour Podcast but clearly the Saints feel good about their depth in the secondary that they can absorb this departure.
Ultimately there are not a lot of surprises on this roster but I do expect the Saints to bring back a number of familiar players to their practice squad. QB Ian Book, rookie DT Jordan Jackson, WR/RB Kirk Merritt, WR/KR Rashid Shaheed, OLs Nick Martin and Josh Andrews, DE Taco Charlton, LBs Jon Bostic, Nephi Sewell and Eric Wilson – these are several names that I think are great candidates to bring back if things work out.
This is one of the better rosters top to bottom in the NFL. The losses of Penning and Gardner-Johnson in the last week do hurt and I believe it’s made the team a bit weaker than it was prior to these developments. Still, the roster has more than enough firepower currently to absorb being without both players.
Ultimately we know the defense and special teams units are highly capable and expectations are high that those units will deliver. How far Jameis Winston can take this offense will be the ultimate measure of whether this team can compete for the playoffs and beyond.
Andrew Juge is the co-host of “The Saints Happy Hour Podcast.” He can be followed on Twitter @AndrewJuge