We’re counting down the days until the New Orleans Saints kick off their 2024 regular season with the Carolina Panthers, and while normally we’d be highlighting the player of the day in the corresponding jersey number (or a fan-favorite from the past who used it, when one isn’t available), we’re doing things a little different today.
Tight end Jesper Horsted has chosen to wear the No. 88 jersey with the Saints, and because he signed so recently he’s our pick; no one had taken it when we reached Day 88 in our countdown, and he had yet to sign with the team. Coincidentally, there also isn’t currently a No. 79 on the roster. We’ll take this opportunity to highlight Horsted, so let’s get to know him a little better.
- Name (Age): Jesper Horsted (27)
- Position: Tight end
- Height, weight: 6-foot-3, 237 pounds
- Relative Athletic Score: 4.70
- 2024 salary cap hit: $985,000
- College: Princeton
- Drafted: Undrafted in 2019 (Chicago Bears)
- NFL experience: 5 years
Horsted’s connection to the Saints runs through tight ends coach Clancy Barrone — who held the same position in Chicago when the Bears signed him as a rookie free agent. He’s primarily played special teams in the NFL (527 career snaps, including a career-high 216 last year with the Las Vegas Raiders) and that might be his path to making the team.
But the Saints signed Horsted after a foot injury sidelined Juwan Johnson for much of the summer. Like Johnson, he’s known as more of a pass-catching tight end than a blocker, so expect him to pick up the slack in receiving drills once training camp begins in late July. Guys like Michael Jacobson and Dallin Holker are ahead of him on the depth chart, but this is also an opportunity for Foster Moreau and Tommy Hudson to show the coaching staff they have hands, too.
Ultimately it’s on Horsted to prove he can handle a range of assignments and win the job as their third tight end behind Johnson and Moreau when roster cuts are decided at the end of August. He may have joined the team as a temporary fill-in because of an injury to another player, but that doesn’t have to define his time on the team. Let’s see how he chooses to write his story.
