Saints Surprisingly Dump Former 1,200-Yard Weapon

The New Orleans Saints have waived running back Devin Neal from injured reserve with an injury settlement, ending his brief tenure with the club less than 17 months after drafting him, via Spotrac.com’s NFL transaction log.

The move also included edge rusher Michael Heldman. Both players had been placed on IR without a designation to return when New Orleans trimmed to 53 players on Aug. 30.

Neal, a 23-year-old Lawrence, Kansas, native, was a sixth-round pick (No. 184 overall) in the 2025 NFL Draft. As a rookie he appeared in 10 games with three starts, rushing 57 times for 206 yards and two touchdowns while catching 17 passes for 104 yards.

He showed promise as a pass protector and contributor in a thin backfield, including a 70-yard rushing day in a December win at Tampa Bay, before a late-season injury cut his year short.

A lingering hamstring problem followed him into 2026. Neal missed time early in camp, returned, then aggravated the injury in the Aug. 22 preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams.

That setback, combined with a crowded running-back room that includes Travis Etienne, Alvin Kamara, Audric Estime and Kendre Miller, left him on the outside. Coach Kellen Moore’s staff kept four backs on the initial 53.

The waiver is notable given Neal’s college résumé.

At Kansas he became the program’s all-time leading rusher with 4,343 yards and 49 rushing touchdowns over four seasons. He topped 1,200 yards twice — 1,280 yards and 16 scores in 2023, then 1,266 yards and 16 more scores in 2024 — and also ran for 1,090 yards in 2022.

He is the only Jayhawk with three 1,000-yard rushing seasons and still owns school records for rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, total touchdowns and 100-yard games.

Under NFL rules, Neal will go through waivers. If unclaimed he becomes a free agent and can sign with another team. The Saints cannot bring him back until the injury-settlement period expires plus an additional three-week waiting period. The same applies to Heldman, an undrafted rookie from Central Michigan who impressed early in camp.

For New Orleans the decision is a roster-flexibility play ahead of Week 1: paying a settlement rather than carrying a player who would have missed the entire season on IR.

For Neal, it is an early career setback after a productive if limited rookie year. At 5-foot-11 and 213 pounds, with vision, patience and receiving skills that translated at Kansas, he remains a candidate for another team’s depth chart once healthy.

Whether that team is the Saints later this fall, or someone else, will be decided on the waiver wire first.