The Saints have placed 27-year old RB Chris Taylor on the Injured Reserve list ending his 2011 season.  He has not played in the NFL since the 2008 season with the Texans.  Taylor has played in 7 games (0 starts) in parts of two years and he has carried the ball 42 times for 160 yards (3.8 avg) with 1 TD run.  He has also caught 3 passes for 40 yards (13.3 avg) so far in his NFL career.  This is not a big loss for the Saints as they are loaded at RB.

The Saints have released 32-year old DE Alex Brown.  Brown played in all 16 games for the Saints last year and he had 39 tackles, 2 sacks, 4 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery and 3 passes defensed.  The Saints might try to bring back Brown for 2011, but he reportedly has generated a lot of interest in his services already.

The Saints have signed 41-year old kicker John Kasay.  Kasay played in all 16 games for the Panthers last year and he connected on 25 of 29 field goals (86.2%).  He also made all 17 of his extra points last year as he scored 92 points last year.  Kasay has played in 285 games in his first 19 years in the NFL and he has made 433 of 529 field goals (81.9%).  He has also nailed 524 of 535 extra points as he now has 1,723 points in his career.  Kasay might get a shot with the Saints if Garrett Hartley misses some time due to his current injury.  It never hurts to bring in a guy like Kasay as an insurance policy.

The Saints have signed 27-year old CB Quincy Butler.  Butler played in 6 games for the Rams last year and he had 12 tackles and 4 passes defensed.  He has now played in 20 games in his first 2 years in the NFL and he has 40 tackles and 9 passes defensed.  This was a good signing for the Saints as they keep adding nice depth to the defense.

The New Orleans Saints release 31-year old OT John Stinchcomb.  Stinchcomb played in 16 games (all starts) for the Saints last year.  He played in 90 games (80 starts) in his 8 years with the Saints.  The Saints have added a lot of quality depth in the off-season to the offensive line which led to Stinchcomb’s release.

The New Orleans Saints sign 31-year old OT Jordan Black.  Black played in 15 games (9 starts) for the Jaguars last year.  He has now played in 80 games (40 starts) in his first 8 years in the NFL.  Black will give the Saints’ quality veteran depth at tackle, so I really like this move for the Saints.

The Saints have re-signed 28-year old DE Jeff Charleston.  Charleston played in all 16 games for the Saints last year and he had 26 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 tackles for a loss, 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries and 2 passes defensed.  He has now played in 55 games in his first four years in the NFL and he has 78 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 7 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and 4 passes defensed.  It was smart of the Saints to bring back Charleston who looks like a solid late bloomer.

23-year old RB Chris Ivory is going to miss likely 4-6 weeks after having surgery to repair a sports hernia.  Ivory played in 12 games (4 starts) for the Saints last year and he carried the ball 137 times for 716 yards (5.2 ypc) with 5 TD runs.  He also caught 1 pass for 17 yards last year.  Ivory really made a good first impression for the Saints last year as an undrafted rookie out of Tiffin.  But, he is below Mark Ingram, Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles on the depth chart, so look for his touches to be limited this season.

UPDATE:  (9/3/2011) – The Saints have placed Chris Ivory on the PUP list which will cause him to miss the first 6 games of the regular season.

The Saints have signed 34-year old center Olin Kreutz to a 1-year, $2 million dollar contract.  Kreutz played in 16 games (all starts) for the Bears last year.  He has now played in 191 games (183 starts) in his first 13 years in the NFL.  Kreutz will likely be the Saints’ starting center after Jonathan Goodwin (last year’s starter) left the team to sign with the Niners.  The Saints lucked out here as Kreutz is one of the best centers in the NFL and he is a nice upgrade on Goodwin.

The Saints have signed 27-year old fullback Korey Hall.  Hall played in 12 games (6 starts) for the Packers last season but he didn’t get to carry the football.  Hall did catch 1 pass for 9 yards last year.  Hall has now played in 48 games (26 starts) in his first four years in the NFL and he has yet to carry the football.  He has caught 21 passes for 137 yards (6.5 avg) with 1 TD grab in his NFL career.  Hall’s main job with the Saints is going to be blocking and that is something he’s pretty good at.