Jason Pierre-Paul’s turn with the New Orleans Saints will start on the practice squad. Already at capacity with 16 players under contract, the Saints opened a spot for him by releasing recently-acquired defensive end Jordan Willis; signed last week as a free agent, Willis was not activated for Week 10’s road game with the Minnesota Vikings.
Like Pierre-Paul, Willis was someone with experience in NFL games who could have helped out in the rotation while young draft picks like Isaiah Foskey and Payton Turner were on the mend. But the Saints believed Pierre-Paul had more to offer, and there’s no arguing with the benefits of greater pro experience. So they made a change.
But will Pierre-Paul get into games coming out of the bye week? Cameron Jordan and Carl Granderson have dominated snaps this season with Tanoh Kpassagnon rotating in behind them, and backup defensive end Kyle Phillips played just five snaps last week in Minnesota. They didn’t sign Pierre-Paul just for him to go through the motions in practice, so look for him to get some opportunities in obvious passing situations after the break.
