The New Orleans Saints parted ways with one of their former draft picks on Wednesday, March 6. As initially reported by Field Yates of ESPN and then confirmed by Nick Underhill of the Advocate, the Saints waived running back Daniel Lasco, who was selected by the team with a seventh round draft choice in the 2016 NFL Draft.
Waiving Lasco now does him a favor. He’ll have the opportunity to pass through waivers on Thursday and, should he go unclaimed, begin visiting with other teams as an unrestricted free agent. This suggests the Saints did not think Lasco would make their opening-day roster as an exclusive-rights free agent, which they could have retained at little cost. They have just three running backs on their 90-man offseason roster, including Alvin Kamara, Dwayne Washington, and Martez Carter. Mark Ingram is an unrestricted free agent.
He made his name covering kickoffs and punts in college and in the NFL, but was ultimately carted off after an ugly hit in the 2017 season. Lasco spent the entire 2018 season on the physically unable to perform list, having suffered that frightening neck injury. The effects from that incident, a bulging disc in his spine, lingered but Lasco evidently is past it and ready to get back on the field.
