Saints Predicted To Cut Ties With Former 40th Overall Pick Before Week 1

Roster battles are officially heating up for the New Orleans Saints.

The Saints' second preseason game will be Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Players on the fringes of the 53-man roster have only two more chances to impress -- Sunday and Aug. 23 against the Denver Broncos -- plus whatever they can accomplish on the practice fields.

Typically, the players fighting for their spots are those who once went undrafted, either trying to crack a roster for the first time or stay on one after narrowly getting included the year before. However, the Saints could have a player with some serious draft pedigree who is in danger.

Will Saints cut defensive end Isaiah Foskey?

The Saints' 2023 second-round pick, defensive end Isaiah Foskey, has failed to establish a meaningful role for himself on the defense over his first two years in the league. In 27 games, he's played only 147 defensive snaps, failing to record a sack and racking up 25 combined tackles.

Entering year three, it's make-or-break time for Foskey to prove he deserves to be a part of the Saints' future. And on Wednesday, Jeff Nowak of WWL Radio Sports predicted that the former 40th overall pick would be cut by the final 53-man roster trimdown.

"I've finally done it. You don't see many second-round picks land as a straight-up cut ahead of Year 3, but (Foskey's) production simply hasn't been there and I don't know that special teams contributions will outweigh players who are producing and should also be assets on special teams," wrote Nowak.

"I'm bumping him for (Chris Rumph II), a player that's impressed throughout camp, has a strong connection with DC Brandon Staley and simply fits the OLB role a lot better than some of these other guys."

Rumph, who had a sack in the preseason opener against the Los Angeles Chargers, played for those same Chargers from 2021 through last season. Staley was the team's head coach from 2021 to 2023.

The 6-foot-5, 270-pound Foskey has all the physical tools one could want from a starting-caliber defensive end in the NFL. But roster competitions are fierce, and there's not enough track record from either player, nor elsewhere on the depth chart, to supersede preseason performance.

Foskey may have to make a few big plays over the next two weeks, or he'll risk losing a job.

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