Saints practice squad adds two free agents after tryouts
The New Orleans Saints brought a pair of free agents in for tryouts earlier this week, and Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football reports that they have each been signed to the Saints practice squad. Veteran defensive lineman Anthony Zettel and defensive back Grant Haley were listed on the daily NFL wire as visiting with the Saints on a tryout basis on Sept. 17. Now they’ll be wearing black and gold.
Zettel, 28, is listed at 6-foot-4 and 275 pounds. He’s appeared in 53 games in the NFL with the several different teams, though he hasn’t started since the 2017 season (notching 6.5 sacks and 43 combined tackles in 16 starts with the Detroit Lions). The former Penn State star most recently played in four games with the San Francisco 49ers, including three playoff games and Super Bowl LIV.
Haley, 24, is listed at 5-foot-9 and 190 pounds. Another Penn State alum, he was coached by Saints special teams assistant Phil Galiano in Happy Valley before joining the New York Giants in 2018. Haley appeared in 25 games over the last two years (starting a dozen times), and was credited with 76 combined tackles (65 solo, 7 tackles for loss), but just two passes defensed.
New Orleans had just one spot open on their practice squad (linebacker Anthony Chickillo left for an opportunity with the Denver Broncos), so expect a corresponding move to be reported soon. Underhill added that practice squad cornerback Kemon Hall was not spotted at the team facility on Saturday, so that might be a clue. But we won’t know for certain until the daily transactions wire is updated, so stay tuned.
