METAIRIE, La. – The New Orleans Saints released linebacker Kyle Knox and safeties Marcus Ball and Ty Zimmerman as they made room for all of their draft picks and undrafted free agents. Teams have a 90-player roster limit in the offseason.
Ball and Knox weren’t obvious candidates for release since they each played in 12 games last season as backups and special teamers. But the Saints apparently felt they were expendable after adding six new defensive players in the draft who can help in some of the same areas. The Saints are especially deep at safety now with Jairus Byrd, Rafael Bush and Vinnie Sunseri all returning from injuries.
Ball, 27, made two starts last season, finishing with 16 tackles. Knox had three tackles. Zimmerman was an undrafted rookie last year who spent the entire season on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.
