The Saints added another body to the defensive line mix, and this one comes with a little more intrigue than a typical late-August transaction.
New Orleans signed former Kentucky defensive tackle Kahlil Saunders and moved offensive lineman Dillon Radunz to injured reserve, a swap that on the surface looks like routine camp housekeeping. But for a team that leans hard on defensive line rotation, Saunders gives them a chance to take a low-cost swing on a player with real upside.
At 6-foot-4 and 270 pounds, Saunders doesn’t fit the mold of a classic space-eating nose tackle. He profiles more as a penetrating interior rusher, the kind of lineman the Saints like to deploy on passing downs when they want disruption more than bulk.
The resume is built around SEC mileage and athletic traits. Saunders went unselected in the 2026 NFL Draft, then had brief stops with the Miami Dolphins before landing in New Orleans.
At Kentucky, he played in 51 career games in the SEC and finished his 2025 senior season with 12 starts, 29 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, two sacks, and four QB hurries. His pre-draft workout also produced a Relative Athletic Score of 8.43 out of 10, a sign of the quickness and mobility that stand out for a player his size.
That’s the appeal here: Saunders isn’t arriving as a blank slate. He has real college experience, he’s faced high-level competition, and he’s shown enough burst to make teams look twice.
The fit in New Orleans is obvious. The Saints have long valued keeping their defensive linemen fresh, and their approach has always made room for sub-package pass rushers who can attack on obvious passing downs. Saunders’ ability to move around the front gives Joe Woods some flexibility, whether he’s lined up as a 3-technique or shifted wider in lighter looks.
He’ll also get thrown into the fire quickly. With the Saints opening their preseason against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Saunders should see live reps right away rather than spending weeks just trying to catch up.
That said, this is still a long shot. Saunders is battling for a place on the 53-man roster, and he’s up against veterans and draft picks with more security.
But that’s exactly why these August moves happen. The Saints aren’t looking for certainty here.
They’re looking for traits. And Saunders brings enough of them to make this a worthwhile gamble.
In Other News...
Jayden Price Is Making Noise In A Saints Battle That Isnt Settled
The Saints cornerback competition has been one of the more watched position battles in camp, and Jayden Price has made himself part of the conversation with a steady showing and the kind of versatility teams look for when sorting out the back end of the roster. He has been working as a backup slot cornerback option, which gives him a path to carve out a role if he keeps stacking solid practices and preseason snaps.
Prices place, though, is still very much up for grabs. New Orleans has not settled its depth chart at the position, and the competition around him remains tight as the preseason moves forward, leaving his roster chances tied to how well he can separate himself from the rest of the group before cut-down decisions arrive. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Preseason Opener Could Shake Up More Than A Few Roster Spots
With the starters staying on the sideline for Fridays preseason opener against the Jaguars, the Saints are turning the spotlight on the part of camp that usually decides the back end of a roster. This is the first real chance for depth players and rookies to turn training-camp buzz into something more permanent, and a handful of names have already surfaced as the ones worth tracking. Running backs Audric Estime and C.J. Donaldson, receivers Bryce Lance, Barion Brown and Kevin Austin, and linemen Jeremiah Wright and Christen Miller all enter the game with something to prove.
The roster math is only getting tighter because several players have been slowed by injuries or practice restrictions, limiting how much of a case they can make before the preseason games start to matter. For a team trying to sort out reserve roles across multiple position groups, that makes every snap against Jacksonville useful and every mistake costly. The Saints may not be revealing their full hand yet, but the opener should at least clarify which camp standouts are starting to separate themselves from the pack. [Read more 🡒]