Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the Saints are placing DT Sheldon Rankins on injured reserve and signing DT Tyrunn Walker to a contract on Tuesday.
An MRI on Monday confirmed that Rankins suffered a torn Achilles, so this doesn’t come as a big surprise.
Rankins, 24, is a former first-round pick of the Saints back in 2016. He’s in the third year of his four-year, $12.8 million contract and stands to make a base salary of $2.19 million for the 2019 season.
The Saints will have a fifth-year option to pick up on Rankins this April.
In 2018, Rankins appeared in all 16 games for the Saints and recorded 40 tackles, eight sacks, a forced fumble and a pass defense.
Walker, 28, originally signed on with the Saints as an undrafted free agent out of Tulsa back in 2012. After two years in New Orleans, Walker signed a one-year, $1.75 million deal with the Lions back in March of 2015 and later returned to Detroit on another one-year contract.
The Rams signed Walker to a one-year, $775,000 contract last March only to release soon after sexual assault allegations surfaced against him. Once Walker was cleared in the matter, he returned to the Rams on another one-year deal.
Walker signed with the Bills last year but was released in September.
In 2017, Walker appeared in all 16 games for the Rams and recorded 23 tackles, one sack, a forced fumble, a recovery and four pass defenses. Pro Football Focus had him rated as the No. 110 interior defender out of 122 qualifying players.
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