Former New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Khalen Saunders was released by the Jacksonville Jaguars on Wednesday. This was first reported by NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero on Wednesday morning. Saunders had played in only two games for the Jaguars this season and had been a healthy inactive in their other seven games. In his two contests, opening week and Week 10, Saunders played a total of 25 defensive snaps and had 3 tackles.
Saunders, 29, played with the Saints during the 2023 and 2024 seasons. As a Saint in those two years, Saunders had 2 sacks and 4 tackles for loss among his 100 total stops along with 7 QB hits, an interception and 4 tipped passes. The Saints traded Saunders to the Jaguars this preseason in exchange for center Luke Fortner, who is currently starting for the injured Erik McCoy.
Before joining New Orleans as a free agent in 2023, Khalen Saunders had played four seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs after being selected in Round 3 of the 2019 NFL draft out of Western Illinois. In four years with the Chiefs, Saunders was a contributor on three AFC championship teams and two Super Bowl champion squads. Over that span, he had 4.5 sacks, 3 tackles for loss, and 10 QB hits.