The New Orleans Saints announced Friday they had signed tight end Jesper Horsted, waiving undrafted rookie wide receiver Kyle Sheets to make room. Formerly of the Las Vegas Raiders and Chicago Bears, Horsted was brought in to reinforce the depth chart after an injury to starting tight end Juwan Johnson.
Horsted has mostly played special teams after turning pro out of Princeton, though he has caught 14 passes for 131 yards and three touchdowns in his four-year NFL career. He has also made ten tackles in the kicking game. He’s someone they know well. Horsted was teammates with Derek Carr on the Raiders in 2022 and he was coached by Clancy Barone with the Bears before that.
Johnson is expected to return in time for the start of the regular season so the Saints weren’t going to look for a big name to replace him. Look for Foster Moreau and rookie favorite Dallin Holker at practices over the summer with veteran backups Michael Jacobson and Tommy Hudson in the mix, plus Taysom Hill.
As for Sheets: the rookie from Slippery Rock was guaranteed just $30,000 in his contract with the Saints so there won’t be much of a salary cap impact from letting him go. We’ll wish him well in catching on with a new team.
