Saints release veteran safety Jeff Heath

The Saints did some roster rearranging Friday. In addition to placing Tre’Quan Smith and Ken Crawley on IR, the team released safety Jeff Heath.

It is possible Heath could be brought back on a team-friendlier deal, one lighter on guarantees, but that is not certain yet. Vested veterans’ salaries become guaranteed if they are on a Week 1 roster. The Saints signed Heath to a one-year deal worth $1.1M.

New Orleans added the 30-year-old defender to its roster three weeks ago. But the former Cowboys and Raiders starter has made 59 career starts. In addition to starting responsibilities in Dallas and Las Vegas, Heath was on the field for more than half of his teams’ special teams plays in three of the past four years.

New Orleans returns starting safeties Malcolm Jenkins and Marcus Williams and has hybrid DBs Chauncey Gardner-Johnson and P.J. Williams behind them.