Saint Roster Cuts

The Saints stuck with their veterans when they cut down to their final 53-man roster Saturday. They waived rookie kicker Taylor Mehlhaff, first-year defensive tackle Orien Harris and young guards Andy Alleman and Tim Duckworth, among some of the most noteworthy cuts.

Meanwhile, they kept injured defensive tackle Hollis Thomas on the active roster and kept cornerbacks Jason David, Jason Craft and Aaron Glenn - giving them a total of seven cornerbacks.

The Saints released a total of 13 players - quarterback Tyler Palko, receivers Skyler Green and Joe West, running back Lynell Hamilton, fullback Olaniyi Sobomehein, tight end Buck Ortega, guards Alleman and Duckworth, defensive end Josh Savage, tackle Harris, linebackers Jo-Lonn Dunbar and William Kershaw and kicker Mehlhaff. They also placed cornerback Greg Fassitt (knee) on injured reserve.

Beginning Sunday, NFL teams can begin establishing a practice squad of eight players, once the eligible players pass through waivers.

The Saints drafted Mehlhaff in the sixth round out of Wisconsin, making him the first kicker picked by any NFL team this year. But he was too inconsistent in the preseason to beat out veteran Martin Gramatica. Despite his strong leg, Mehlhaff shanked too many kickoffs during games, and he missed a 40-yard field goal attempt in the preseason finale.

Alleman was a third-round pick out of Akron in 2007, but he got passed up on the depth chart by this year's rookie Carl Nicks. Alleman tried to become more versatile by playing guard and center this summer, but he wasn't able to push veteran Matt Lehr for that utility role.

It appears as though the Saints are willing to wait for Thomas to get healthy after he tore a triceps muscle earlier this month. He is expected to miss at least the first five weeks of the season.

Injury concerns also likely played into the Saints' decision to keep so many cornerbacks. Starter Mike McKenzie is still working his way back from a major knee injury, and backup Usama Young is questionable for the season opener because of a hamstring injury.

The Saints are scheduled to open the season at home on Sept. 7 against Tampa Bay.

http://blog.nola.com/saintsbeat/2008/08/mehlhaff_alleman_among_new_orl.html

 

Alleman really surprised me. That's giving up on him pretty quickly.

Wasn't he a 3rd rounder?

 

How old is Aaron Glenn these days? I used to watch him as a Jet, but that feels like forever ago.

 

He was old when we had him (after being released from Houston).

 

That's what I thought. I was a bit surprised that he made the cut, to be honest.

 

Both Porter (rookie) and Young... are inexperienced.

David is the definition of suck. McKenzie is still there; Gay was a free agent signing. I don't know who else they have at CB.. but Glenn does give them experience.