METAIRIE, La. — Quarterback Joey Harrington and veteran defensive end Paul Spicer were among the 22 players cut by the New Orleans Saints on Saturday night.
The team announced the moves shortly before the NFL’s deadline for clubs to trim rosters to the regular-season maximum of 53 players.
It was possible, however, that a couple of the players cut would be brought back because the Saints’ active roster still included three players — defensive ends Charles Grant and Will Smith, and kicker Garrett Hartley — who were expected to begin serving four-game suspensions during Week 1 of the regular season.
One of those three spots will initially be taken by tight end David Thomas, acquired Saturday in a trade that sent a 2011 seventh-round draft pick to New England.
Spicer, who started Thursday night’s preseason finale against Miami, could be a candidate to return unless the Saints find a better option among the ends cut by other teams.
Harrington, a former third overall draft choice by Detroit who also has played for Miami and Atlanta, was signed, cut and re-signed twice by New Orleans in 2008 because of changing roster constraints during the season. That potentially could happen again because the Saints had only two quarterbacks — Drew Brees and Mark Brunell — on their active roster.
Safety Chip Vaughn, tight end Billy Miller; and fullback Olaniyi Sobomehin are players who won’t be returning — at least not this year. They were placed on injured reserve.
Vaughn tore the meniscus in his left knee early in training camp and did not recover fast enough to get back on the field. He was one of two former Wake Forest players the Saints took in the fourth round of the 2009 draft. The other, linebacker Stanley Arnoux, tore his left Achilles’ tendon during rookie camp and could miss the enitre season as well. He has remained unsigned, so the Saints were not forced to make an immediate roster move with him.
Miller, entering his 10th season, tore his right Achilles’ tendon during the Saints’ final preseason game on Thursday night. Olaniyi hurting his shoulder in Thursday’s game.
Two 2008 draft choices — wide receiver Adrian Arrington and defensive tackle DeMario Pressley — were cut, along with undrafted rookie running backs P.J. Hill and Herb Donaldson. A few of them could end up on the Saints’ practice squad if they are not claimed off waivers by another team during a 24-hour period that began when they were waived.
Wide receiver Skyler Green, a star on LSU’s 2003 BCS championship team, also was waived, along with Courtney Roby, a reserve receiver who was one of New Orleans’ primary kickoff returners last season. They were beat out for one of the final receiver spots by Rod Harper, who was playing arena football in Little Rock, Ark., when the Saints signed him in June. Harper was solid as a receiver in the preseason, but stood out on special teams, returning two punts for touchdowns.
Other players cut were: offensive linemen Anthony Davis, Nate Bennett, Michael Brown, Digger Bujnoch, Tim Duckworth and Jeremy Parnell; cornerback Danny Gorrer; tight end Martrez Milner; wide receiver Matt Simon; linebacker Anthony Waters; and defensive tackle Earl Heyman.
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