Bears leaped Saints for waiver claim on LB Sterling Weatherford
It isn’t too surprising to see the New Orleans Saints’ interest in adding another linebacker. They only rostered five of them while signing three others to the practice squad, but lost veteran backup Jon Bostic to a reunion with his old Washington Commanders team. So it’s disappointing to see the Saints were unable to snag a player they coveted from Wednesday’s update to the waiver wire. ESPN’s Field Yates reports that they were one of two teams to file a waiver claim for former Indianapolis Colts linebacker Sterling Weatherford
Weatherford, 23, signed with Indianapolis as an undrafted rookie out of Miami-Ohio. The Colts had designs for him to return to their practice squad had he cleared waivers, but the Saints and Chicago Bears kept that from materializing. And because Chicago had the higher waiver claim priority (7th overall; New Orleans was stuck at 18th), Weatherford is now a Bear. The only other player that the Saints claimed off of waivers, rookie offensive lineman Tanner Owen, is in New Orleans.
So look for the Saints to continue the search for linebacker help. There aren’t many proven quantities on the active roster behind Demario Davis (who is joined by Kaden Elliss, Andrew Dowell, and Zack Baun while Pete Werner continues to recover from a groin injury) with three backups on the practice squad in Nephi Sewell (an undrafted rookie out of Utah), Eric Wilson, and Chase Hansen. They’ll keep an eye on the waiver wire in the days ahead and maybe fly in some free agents for tryouts.
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Taco Charlton, 3 linebackers make the Saints' initial 15-man practice squad
