Saints re-sign Shane Lemieux, one of last year's lowest-graded offensive linemen
The New Orleans offense struggled without McCoy snapping the ball and helping with protections, and the Saints went 1-5 in games with Lemieux filling in. He was also graded second-lowest among the team's offensive linemen at Pro Football Focus (with a 51.1 overall rating), grading worst as a run blocker (58.8) with a middling score in pass protection (42.1). Lemieux was part of a group tryout in late June but initially left without a deal, and he was one of a few players from last year's team still waiting for a call in free agency.
Still, the centers behind McCoy at Saints training camp have had their own problems. Both Will Clapp and rookie free agent Torricelli Simpkins III have misfired on snaps with the second- and third-string offenses, and it's gotten to a point where the quarterbacks working with them have begun to suffer for it. If Lemieux can pull off a cleaner exchange it would do a lot to help the team evaluate Tyler Shough and Jake Haener while Spencer Rattler continues to see most of the practice reps with the starters.
Because the Saints were already at their 90-man offseason roster limit, they'll have to let someone go to make room for him. We'll keep an eye out for developments on that front. Players are off on Friday so we may not find out until they take the field for practice on Saturday. Stay tuned.
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Fox Sports
2 hours ago
- Fox Sports
2025 NFL Odds Preseason Week 1: Lines, Spreads For All 16 Games
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USA Today
5 hours ago
- USA Today
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‘He flies around.' Dolphins LB Willie Gay Jr. is training camp's biggest star
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I think he's a guy that has shown up every day and I think that's who he is and we're happy to have him on the team.' Through 10 practices, Gay has not only emerged as one of the standouts of training camp but arguably the most consistent player. His body of work can be summed up in just two words: energized playmaker. Whether a sack, pass breakup, interception or tackle for loss, Gay gets his hands on the ball — and his teammates juiced in the process. 'Blitz the edge, blitz the middle, cover man to man or play all kind of zone coverages — I feel like I'm in a great role being here,' Gay said in late July. 'The defense is perfect for guys like myself. That's why I feel like our room is so good and well-rounded because we all are skilled in that aspect. I feel like we're all going to benefit from it.' Gay's high-level play is especially surprising considering his 2024 season. After four years with the Chiefs, the two-time Super Bowl champion signed a one-year deal with the New Orleans Saints. His numbers immediately plummeted. Not only was Gay no longer the consistent starter that he was in Kansas City, he experienced career lows across various tackling categories. The lack of snaps eventually started to affect him mentally. 'Probably Week 11, I kind of clocked out because I was like, 'Bro, I'm playing 10 snaps a game,'' Gay recalled July 28. 'I was just like forget it — it was just negative, honestly. I'll give you that. Me and God, we talked about it like always. I learned that to honor him and this game the way I give back is to be grateful in what I do have. And then I feel like he'll bless me with more after that, but first he wants to see me be grateful in the role that I am in. That's kind of all it was. Just trying to be the guy when it wasn't my time yet.' That conversation appears to have helped recenter Gay. 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'Those are the types of people in the locker room that can be compass setters and I've been incredibly happy with having him here and he makes himself present and his teammates are aware of him every practice even when he's not making plays, but his speed to the ball is real and it's infectious in helping us capture the vision that we have of how we play football.' 'He's all over the place,' edge rusher Bradley Chubb said July 29. 'He flies around. He's a Super Bowl champ, so I always tell him, 'We need that Super Bowl DNA. Whatever bits and crumbs you've got for us, we need it,' and he shows it each and every day. It's great to have him on our team, for sure.' That, more than anything, might be Gay's biggest addition to this team. He's a champion. And not just a one-time champion either — he was a starting linebacker on the Chiefs team that won back-to-back Super Bowls in 2022 and 2023. As Chubb said, the Dolphins certainly need that. 'Nobody is bigger than the team, there's no superstars,' Gay said when asked about the traits of a championship team after signing in late March. 'Obviously I had Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Chris Jones and the other guys, but even those guys, they never missed days of practice. If we wore black socks, they wore black socks. Nobody is trying to stand out amongst the crowd. Things like that I noticed was different when I went to New Orleans, once against not to bash New Orleans – it's a great city, great team and all. But just something that I noticed was different and when it comes down to it, you realize that the details like that matters come the end of the year.'
