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

Saints who earned roster spot No. 1: DE Niko Lalos

The Dartmouth University product was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Giants in 2020. He wound up appearing in the club’s final six games and interesting enough, he not only finished with five tackles, he came up with a fumble recovery and an interception.

In 2021 and 2022, defensive end Niko Lalos would not appear in a regular-season game with either the Giants or Saints. He signed a futures contract earlier this year with Dennis Allen’s squad and has been busy during this preseason.

In the preseason opener vs. the Chiefs, he saw some action on defense (18 plays) as well as special teams. He was credited with knocking down one pass. It was a much different story at SoFi Stadium against the Chargers. He saw more action on defense vs. the Bolts and in the club’s 22-17 win, he led the Saints with five tackles (4 solo), three of the team’s five sacks and one pass defensed.

On Sunday night vs. the Texans, Lalos finished with a pair of stops and was credited with one quarterback trap, which was actually a pair of half-sacks in the first half. The 6-foot-5, 249-pound defender certainly made the most of his playing time in the Saints’ three preseason outings.