Some help is on the way in the wake of Chase Young’s new calf injury. On Thursday, the New Orleans Saints announced that defensive end Garrett Nelson signed with their practice squad after rookie quarterback Hunter Dekkers was waived in a corresponding move. Nelson joins rookie seventh-round pick Fadil Diggs, veteran backup Jonah Williams, and another recent free agent pickup, Eku Leota, on the bottom of the depth chart in the edge-rush rotation. He’s wearing No. 52.
Nelson, 25, has played off-ball linebacker before and is listed at 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds, but he figures to get most of his work in the defensive ends rotation while Young is on the mend. He played college football at Nebraska and signed with the Miami Dolphins as a rookie free agent back in 2023. Nelson spent time with the Cincinnati Bengals and Denver Broncos in-between a stop with the spring-league UFL’s San Antonio Brahmas.
Still, this is a depth move, not a big shakeup. And the hope is that it doesn’t need to be. Ideally, Nelson can help practice run smoothly for a week or two while Young rests up, giving guys like Diggs the opportunities they need to climb the depth chart with valuable development reps. We’ll see if Nelson earns a larger role, but for now he’ll need to make his own luck.