For a team getting so thin at running back, the New Orleans Saints sure have let some good ones get away. Backups Devin Neal (last year's sixth-round draft pick) and Audric Estime (their preseason rushing leader) both signed with the Minnesota Vikings practice squad last week after the Saints cut them from injured reserve. Days later, starting running back Travis Etienne Jr. suffered a hamstring injury that will sideline him until the Saints return from their bye week in November. It's the kind of thing that looked bad at the time and worse in hindsight.
Neal wouldn't have had a chance to return this season if he had stayed on injured reserve, but Estime would have been eligible for activation after Monday night's game with the Atlanta Falcons.
Instead, the Saints let them both walk away with injury settlements, and now they're healthy and playing for another team. Saints coach Kellen Moore was asked about the decision to let those guys go after practice on Saturday.
"I think ultimately it's a roster management discussion," Moore started. "We have a number of guys, you're only allowed so many guys to come back on off injured reserve and we have a number of guys coming here in the next few weeks that will be available. And so, you know, it's just about managing how many of those are you going to early in the year, when knowing you may need a couple as the season progresses."
New Orleans has already designed linebacker Jaylan Ford to return from injured reserve after Week 4, if he's healthy, and other players expected back soon include rookie safety Lorenzo Styles Jr. and long snapper Zach Wood. Left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. is hoping to return in December, and Etienne himself should return in November. Teams are capped at bringing back eight players from injured reserve during the regular season, so the Saints would already have five of those slots earmarked.
That doesn't get into why the Saints put either player on injured reserve in the first place if they would be healthy to play just three or four weeks later, but it does explain why the team chose to let them go. Maybe Neal and Estime asked for their release rather than to be stuck on the bench all year so they could get on the field somewhere else. Players want to play.
There was some confusion about whether Estime and Neal signing with another team would void the terms of their injury settlements; the way those deals work, the Saints could not re-sign Estime or Neal for the length of the settlement (say, four weeks) plus three weeks. It's designed to keep teams from working around injured reserve rules. The thinking now was that Etienne or Neal could be signed from the Minnesota practice squad just like anyone else. But that doesn't appear to be the case.
"My understanding is it does not change the formula for us," Moore replied.
After placing Etienne on injured reserve, the Saints are left with Alvin Kamara, Kendre Miller, and CJ Donaldson on the 53-man roster with Zamir White and recently-signed Ulysses Bentley IV on the practice squad. As a team, New Orleans ranked 18th in rushing yards and 21st in yards per carry (3.8) going into Week 3, but that production was inflated by Tyler Shough (67 rushing yards on 14 attempts). Take him out and the team has one of the NFL's six or seven worst rushing attacks. They'll have to find a way to make it work until Etienne gets back in the lineup.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Kellen Moore explains how RB-needy Saints lost Audric Estime
