'An uneasy time.' How Saints, players get ready for league-wide roster cuts.

The Saints are reaching out to other teams with a surplus at positions where the Saints might be thin — perhaps to find another offensive tackle.

METAIRIE, La. — Remember Nate Stupar? 

The backup linebacker played primarily on special teams during his two seasons with the New Orleans Saints.

His best game in New Orleans might have come a year ago this week. 

In the fourth preseason game last year, the linebacker's three sacks, one interception and one fumble recovery helped the Saints beat the visiting Los Angeles Rams 28-0.

Four days later, the Saints cut him.

Now, the Saints are set to play a final preseason game — this time against the Miami Dolphins — and many of the top performers might soon find themselves looking for work. Meanwhile, the Saints are reaching out to other teams with a surplus at positions where the Saints might be thin.

"If I'm another team and I'm in need of a safety, I'm studying our safety depth," Saints coach Sean Payton said. 

The coach guessed there might be three teams in the league that are deep at safety. Maybe three or four teams deep at tight end. And so on. 

"Every team in the league right now would say, 'Hey, we're deep in some areas, we're a little thin here. Who's deep in an area where we're thin?'" Payton said. "You'll see some trades take place before that cut-down to help fill needs."

In the preseason finale last season, the Saints kept 25 of the players who ultimately made the 53-man Week 1 roster on the sideline. 

Of the 58 non-specialists to play that preseason finale, 34 of them were not on the Week 1 roster against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Eight players who started that preseason game also didn't make the Week 1 roster.

The roster cut down that takes place by 3 p.m. Central time Saturday is massive, with as many as 1,184 players suddenly available to be claimed on the waiver wire or signed as an unrestricted free agent. Nearly a third of those players will join the 10-player practice squad each team is allotted.

The Saints' pro scouting department reviewed and graded every player in the league. 

"Not just our team," Payton said. "The entire league."

Among current Saints, do-it-all quarterback Taysom Hill and wide receiver Austin Carr both came to New Orleans as roster cut-down waiver claims.

"I sat in coach (Mike) McCarthy's office when he told me I deserved a 53-man spot," said Hill, who the Green Bay Packers waived as a rookie in 2017. "But the way injuries went and the way everything played out that year, there just wasn't (a roster spot) available for a third QB."

Reserve linebacker Vince Biegel arrived after the Packers waived him after last preseason. The Saints signed him once he cleared waivers.

"I didn't have the preseason I wanted to," Biegel said about his time with the Packers last August. "I pulled a hip flexor going into training camp and they got a new defensive coordinator, all new defensive coaches, a new general manager."

A central Wisconsin native, he woke up the morning of cut-down day feeling unsure about his roster status with his home-state team.

"It's always an uneasy time," he said.

Initially signed to the team practice squad, Biegel joined the 53-man roster before Week 3. He played 14 regular season games and logged 241 snaps on special teams.

Now after a full off-season with the Saints, he feels more secure with what he can contribute as a linebacker on some pass-rush downs.

"I feel like I've grown so much from last year in Green Bay to this year, from rushing, from production, from understanding the playbook, from growing," Biegel said.

As for Stupar, his ability did not go unnoticed. 

The New York Giants made the waiver claim that brought him there. He played all 16 games. He's now on the preseason roster.

The roster cut-down time is not easy for anyone, coaches included. 

"One of the hardest parts of the job," Payton said. 

The coach said he experienced the player side of things three or four times in his career.

"Some of the players that get released, there's a good chance they're going to end up coming back through the doors here," Payton said.

Not everything players do in the preseason finale will determine their status on the roster.

"It's a full body of work," Payton said.

A body of work that will soon be complete.