3 Saints who earned a roster spot in preseason Week 3, and 1 on verge of being cut

Dennis Allen’s New Orleans Saints hoped to wrap up a perfect preseason when they hosted the Houston Texans on Sunday night.

A year ago, Dennis Allen’s first year as the head coach saw the club post a 1-2 record during the summer and followed that up with a 7-10 regular season. It was the franchise’s first losing campaign since 2016 and it marked the second consecutive year that the team failed to make the playoffs. This after winning four consecutive NFC South titles (2017-20).

On Sunday night at home against the Houston Texans, Allen’s team came up short, 17-13. This followed victories in their first two preseason contests over the Chiefs (26-24) and Chargers (22-17). Now comes an important time for all 32 clubs as they must be down to 53 players by 4:00 pm ET on Tuesday, August 29.

While the club's most notable offseason addition was quarterback Derek Carr, there are quite a few other notable veterans who inked deals with the club this offseason. Will they all be around when the team kicks off the season on September 10 at home vs. the Tennessee Titans?

Saints who earned roster spot No. 3: LB Jaylon Smith

The one-time second-round pick of the Cowboys in 2016 (who did not play as a rookie) and a 2019 Pro Bowler with Dallas spent this past season with the New York Giants. He finished second on the club with 88 tackles despite playing in only 13 contests.

Linebacker Jaylon Smith joined the Saints roughly three days before their first preseason game this year vs. the defending Super Bowl champions. While the six-year veteran didn’t play vs. Kansas City, Smith started vs. both the Chargers and Texans. At Los Angeles, he finished with three stops and knocked down a pass. Against Houston, he led the Saints with five tackles, two of those for losses. This could prove to be an excellent late addition.