The New Orleans Saints are just a few weeks from trimming the roster down to 53 players. Despite the time remaining, New Orleans got out in front of the decisions on Wednesday and cut ties with a former specialist for the team.
There have been a few position battles to watch this summer for the Saints. Obviously, the quarterback battle comes to mind right away, but that isn't the only one. Another battle that has been underway at training camp over the last few weeks has been at the punter position. Now, the punter spot obviously isn't as flashy as quarterback, but that doesn't mean that it isn't important.
There has been a lot of turnover at the position over the last few years for the Saints and it seems like that trend is going to continue into 2025. The Saints recently shared their first unofficial depth chart of training camp but already have shaken it up a bit.
Saints turnover continues as roster battles start to hit final stretch
NewOrleans.Football's Nick Underhill shared the Saints' unofficial depth chart earlier in the week.
Saints' first unofficial depth chart pic.twitter.com/8TlqusJZQQ
— Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill) August 5, 2025
From this, you can see that New Orleans listed 2024 Saints punter Matthew Hayball as the expected starter followed by James Burnip and Kai Kroeger. Well, the Saints already made a change and released Hayball on Wednesday, per the team.
"New Orleans Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis announced today that the club has signed free agent quarterback Hunter Dekkers and waived punter Matthew Hayball," the team announced. "Dekkers, 6-3, 225, joins the Saints after previously participating in the team's training camp. The Hawarden, Iowa native was originally signed in May following the team's rookie minicamp. After playing at Iowa State for three seasons, Dekkers finished his college career at Iowa Western in 2024, where he completed 288-of-449 passes (64.1 pct.) for a school-record 3,806 yards with 32 touchdowns, leading the Reivers to a No. 2 final national ranking in the National Junior College Athletic Association."
Now, the Saints are left with Burnip and Kroeger duking it out for the job. Kroeger came over recently after trying out with the team after being let go by the New York Jets. Burnip went undrafted in the 2025 NFL Draft and signed with the Saints afterward. With preseason games kicking off this weekend, we should see plenty of these two as the battle heats up.
