Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the Saints have officially waived veteran LB James Laurinaitis from injured reserve on Thursday.
Earlier in the week, Mike Garafolo reported that Laurinaitis was scheduled to see a doctor this week and determine if he’s healthy enough to play with the expectation being that he would be released from I.R. if he was medically cleared.
Given where we are in the NFL year and a number of teams dealing with injuries at linebacker, a veteran like Laurinaitis could be a big addition for a contender.
Laurinaitis, 29, is a former second-round pick of the Rams back in 2009. After seven years with the Rams, Laurinaitis signed a three-year, $8.25 million contract with the Saints back in March. He stands to make a base salary of $900,000 for the 2016 season.
The Saints placed Laurinaitis on injured reserve a few weeks ago with a quad injury.
This year, Laurinaitis has appeared in five games for the Saints and recorded 17 tackles, a fumble recovery and a pass defense. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 87 linebacker out of 87 qualifying players.
We’ll have more regarding potential landing spots for Laurinaitis as the news is available.
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