Surprise Moves by New Orleans Saints: Find Out the Details

With still hours to go before the 53-man roster deadline, the Saints have already made moves to raise some eyebrows.

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Bub Means (16) rushes away from safety Johnathan Abram (24) during practice at Yulman Stadium / Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

The New Orleans Saints and the other 31 NFL teams are tasked with the difficult decisions to trim their rosters to 53 players by 4pm Eastern Time on Tuesday afternoon. New Orleans, as they typically do, waited until a little later in the day to start announcing personnel moves.

Click this link for the up-to-date roster tracker from the Saints News Network .

The Saints raised a few eyebrows early in the day by releasing veteran safety Johnathan Abram. The five-year pro was expected to compete for a possible starting job and was valued for his experience and run support skills.

Among other notable early cuts from the Saints were running backs Jacob Kibodi and James Robinson, CB Shemar Jean-Charles, S Ugo Amadi, DT Jack Heflin, linebackers Khalek Hudson, Mike Rose and Isaiah Stalbird, punter Lou Hedley, and kicker Charlie Smyth.

New Orleans Saints running back Jacob Kibodi (35) rushes against the Tennessee Titans / Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

The moves with Smyth and Hedley essentially settled the kicking battle at both positions. Hudson, Rose and Stalbird had each had strong moments, but were a victim of the numbers game at a linebacker spot that looks extremely deep.

Robinson and Kibodi, the undrafted rookie back from Louisiana, each had nice moments in their push for a job. Even with the Saints placing RB Kendre Miller on injured reserve, neither back was able to do enough to overtake Jamaal Williams or Jordan Mims for a spot behind Alvin Kamara.

New Orleans did make some moves at a position that shouldn't come as a surprise, but was still a shock to see on paper. The Saints essentially gutted nearly the entire offensive line depth chart. They parted ways with six linemen by noon on Tuesday.

One of those surprising releases was undrafted rookie G Kyle Hergel, who most thought had played well enough to earn an initial shot. Hergel and a few others, notably Ezirim and Anchrum, stand a good shot at returning to the practice squad if they clear waivers.

New Orleans Saints guard Kyle Hergel (60) lines up against the Arizona Cardinals / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

With guard Nick Saldiveri also expected to start the year on injured reserve, the Saints are down to just seven offensive linemen on their roster currently.

Current Saints Offensive Line

• Taliese Fuaga, T
• Lucas Patrick, G
• Erik McCoy, C
• Cesar Ruiz, G
• Trevor Penning, T
• Olisaemeka Udoh, T/G
• Landon Young, T/G

If the Saints showed us one thing among their initial roster moves, it's that they are far from comfortable with an offensive line that's had concerning issues throughout training camp. Expect New Orleans to look hard at additional offensive linemen after the rest of the league make their moves this afternoon.

Stay tuned to the Saints News Network for the team's up-to-date roster tracker and all other personnel movements.