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New Orleans Saints terminate contract of punter Thomas Morstead

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New Orleans Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis announced today that the club has terminated the contract of punter Thomas Morstead.

Morstead, 6-4, 235 pounds, spent the last 12 seasons in Black and Gold after being selected in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft out of SMU. A team captain since 2013, he made an immense contribution both on the field with the organization and with the local community.

Morstead appeared in 190 career regular season games, ranked fourth in team record books and punted 692 times for 32,190 yards for a 46.5 gross punting average and a 41.6 net, ranked second in NFL record books since the statistic was first recorded in 1976. 251 of his punts landed inside-the-20-yard line, tied for the 33rd-highest total since the stat was recorded in 1976 and the most in club record books. Morstead served as the club’s primary kickoff specialist from 2009-14 and 259 of his 532 career kickoffs have sailed into the end zone for touchbacks (48.7%). His most famous work from a kicking tee occurred as a rookie in Super Bowl XLIV, when he successfully executed an onside kick at the start of the second half that was recovered by New Orleans and led to a touchdown, nicknamed “Ambush”. Morstead was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2012, when he was also a consensus All-Pro. Throughout his career, he has been selected as NFC Special Teams Player of the Week five times.

Morstead also appeared in 15 postseason games for New Orleans, second in club record books and punted 54 times for 2,405 yards with a 44.5 gross punting average and a 41.0 net with 19 dropped inside-the-20.

In 2020, Morstead appeared in all 16 regular season games, for the 11th time in his 12-year career and punted 62 times for 2,674 yards with a 43.1 gross punting average, 41.7 net with 23 dropped inside-the-20 yard line. He was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week following the season-opening win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, when he booted six punts for 264 yards with a 44.0 gross/net, five inside-the-20 and also successfully hit a kickoff that was fumbled by Tampa Bay and recovered by New Orleans to set up a touchdown.

Off the field, Morstead and his wife Lauren made extensive contributions to the Gulf South Community, leaving a lasting legacy through their “What You Give Will Grow” foundation, established in 2012. The team’s nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award in 2013, Morstead focused the majority of his efforts in the region on cancer-related and child-related initiatives, as well as stepping up to assist those in need during holiday seasons as well as when natural disasters affected the region.

“Thomas Morstead has been the epitome of the consummate pro since the day we selected him in the 2009 NFL Draft,” said Loomis. “He has been a remarkable punter and an outstanding leader in the locker room and eight-time team captain. His work in the community has been nothing short of remarkable. We know that as we approach the beginning of the NFL calendar year that very difficult decisions have to be made and this certainly falls into this category. We appreciate the dedication and professionalism that Thomas has brought to our organization from the moment he joined our team and sincerely wish both he and his family the best.”

“Thomas has been a very important part of the New Orleans Saints organization and our community since 2009,” said Saints Head Coach Sean Payton. “It has been an honor to have coached him and to have witnessed his growth as a player and a person. He has been a great leader and mentor to many younger players throughout his career and his Pro Bowl level of play year-in and year-out has been remarkable. I know that Thomas will be highly successful in the future and am grateful to have had the opportunity to coach him.”

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New Orleans Saints terminate contracts of tight ends Josh Hill and Jared Cook

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New Orleans Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis announced today that the club has terminated the contracts of tight ends Josh Hill and Jared Cook .Hill, 6-5, 250 pounds, filled various roles for the Saints as a receiver, blocker, fullback and special teams contributor after making the team in 2013 as an undrafted free agent out of Idaho State. Hill appeared in 117 regular season games with 62 starts for New Orleans and posted 116 receptions for 1,071 yards with 15 touchdowns and posted 27 special teams tackles. In nine postseason games with four starts, he posted 15 receptions for 166 yards with one touchdown.In 2020, Hill played in 14 games with seven starts and posted eight receptions for 46 yards with one touchdown, one season after posting career-highs in catches (25) and receiving yards (226) in 2019.”He is a true professional,” Loomis said of Josh Hill. “He has done so many things that very few people noticed but his coaches and teammates certainly were aware of his contribution to the team’s success over the better part of the last decade. He played with tremendous heart and determination and personified the characteristics that we highly value. He certainly earned our respect and admiration throughout his time in our program.””Josh joined us an undrafted free agent in 2013 and has been a model of consistency throughout his eight seasons with us,” said Saints Head Coach Sean Payton. “He has been reliable, selfless and filled numerous roles for us, oftentimes on the fly and in the middle of games, filling each role at a very high level. We appreciate everything he has done for our team and know he will have continued success as he moves forward.”Cook, 6-6, 254, was signed by New Orleans as an unrestricted free agent in 2019 and is a 12-year NFL veteran who was originally selected in the third round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans out of the University of South Carolina. He has appeared in 178 career games with 89 starts, posting 505 receptions for 6,673 yards (13.2 avg.) with 41 touchdowns.Since joining New Orleans in 2019, Cook, played in 29 games and recorded 80 receptions for 1,209 yards (15.1 avg.) with 16 touchdowns, tied for the second-highest scoring grab total at the position during that period. After being named to the Pro Bowl in 2019, recording 43 grabs for 705 yards (16.4 avg.) with nine touchdowns, Cook played in 15 games in 2020 and led the tight ends group with 37 catches for 504 yards (13.6 avg.) and a team-best seven touchdown receptions.”Jared consistently displayed the playmaking skills that attracted us to him as a free agent two years ago,” said Payton. “He made a lot of big plays for us and was a positive influence on his teammates. Jared is a consummate professional who is dedicated to his craft and we wish him the best of luck in the future.”

NEW ORLEANS —

New Orleans Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis announced today that the club has terminated the contracts of tight ends Josh Hill and Jared Cook .

Hill, 6-5, 250 pounds, filled various roles for the Saints as a receiver, blocker, fullback and special teams contributor after making the team in 2013 as an undrafted free agent out of Idaho State. Hill appeared in 117 regular season games with 62 starts for New Orleans and posted 116 receptions for 1,071 yards with 15 touchdowns and posted 27 special teams tackles. In nine postseason games with four starts, he posted 15 receptions for 166 yards with one touchdown.

In 2020, Hill played in 14 games with seven starts and posted eight receptions for 46 yards with one touchdown, one season after posting career-highs in catches (25) and receiving yards (226) in 2019.

“He is a true professional,” Loomis said of Josh Hill. “He has done so many things that very few people noticed but his coaches and teammates certainly were aware of his contribution to the team’s success over the better part of the last decade. He played with tremendous heart and determination and personified the characteristics that we highly value. He certainly earned our respect and admiration throughout his time in our program.”

“Josh joined us an undrafted free agent in 2013 and has been a model of consistency throughout his eight seasons with us,” said Saints Head Coach Sean Payton. “He has been reliable, selfless and filled numerous roles for us, oftentimes on the fly and in the middle of games, filling each role at a very high level. We appreciate everything he has done for our team and know he will have continued success as he moves forward.”

Cook, 6-6, 254, was signed by New Orleans as an unrestricted free agent in 2019 and is a 12-year NFL veteran who was originally selected in the third round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans out of the University of South Carolina. He has appeared in 178 career games with 89 starts, posting 505 receptions for 6,673 yards (13.2 avg.) with 41 touchdowns.

Since joining New Orleans in 2019, Cook, played in 29 games and recorded 80 receptions for 1,209 yards (15.1 avg.) with 16 touchdowns, tied for the second-highest scoring grab total at the position during that period. After being named to the Pro Bowl in 2019, recording 43 grabs for 705 yards (16.4 avg.) with nine touchdowns, Cook played in 15 games in 2020 and led the tight ends group with 37 catches for 504 yards (13.6 avg.) and a team-best seven touchdown receptions.

“Jared consistently displayed the playmaking skills that attracted us to him as a free agent two years ago,” said Payton. “He made a lot of big plays for us and was a positive influence on his teammates. Jared is a consummate professional who is dedicated to his craft and we wish him the best of luck in the future.”

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New Orleans Saints facing discipline again for COVID-19 violations

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TAMPA, Fla. — The New Orleans Saints are again facing discipline for violations of the NFL’s policies on COVID-19 that may have contributed to one of their star players becoming infected, and the punishment is likely to be the biggest yet for their third offense, sources say.

Running back Alvin Kamara tested positive for COVID-19 and missed the team’s Week 17 game after an interaction in the facility with a person not employed by the club who turned out to be positive — a violation captured on surveillance video obtained by the NFL, per sources.

Several other Saints running backs also missed the Week 17 game because they were deemed high-risk close contacts, and Kamara was only able to return for the wild-card round because of a favorable scheduling decision.

The Saints previously were fined $250,000 and coach Sean Payton $100,000 for failing to properly wear face coverings in Week 2. The NFL also fined the team $500,000 and took away a seventh-round pick for a maskless celebration following its Week 9 win.

While the discipline in this case has not yet been finalized — and could be reduced if the Saints issue fines internally for violators — it may end up including multiple and/or higher draft picks and an even larger fine.

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Drew Brees restructures contract to give Saints more cap space

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Drew Brees has not yet announced his retirement, but in a hint that he’s preparing to do so, he has agreed with the Saints that he will dramatically reduce his 2021 salary.

Brees is currently under contract for a $25 million salary in 2021 but has agreed to the league minimum of $1.075 million, according to ESPN.

As explained by Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com, that brings Brees’ cap hit for 2021 down to $12.225 million, from the $36.15 million it would have been if he hadn’t taken the pay cut. That means Brees has just saved the Saints nearly $24 million on their salary cap once the new league year starts in March.

Then Brees and the Saints can wait until after June 1 to make his retirement official, at which point the Saints can split his dead cap number of $22.65 million between the 2021 and 2022 salary caps.

Even after this move, the Saints are projected to be well over the salary cap for 2021, so more moves are certainly coming. But some creative accounting and Brees’ cooperation has just made things a little easier on the Saints.

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