Red alert: the New Orleans Saints have opened a training camp competition at fullback, signing veteran free agent Jake Bargas to push Adam Prentice for his roster spot over the summer. Grab your popcorn.
Prentice has been a regular for the Saints at fullback ever since they claimed him off of waivers back in 2021, though he’s spent a lot of time on their practice squad. If Bargas does well, he might take the job for his own.
Bargas played collegiately at North Carolina and signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2020, though he only appeared in two games and played as many snaps on special teams (5) as he did on offense (7), only getting spot-duty in relief of C.J. Ham as Dalvin Cook’s lead-blocker. He briefly signed with the Chicago Bears last summer before landing with the Miami Dolphins in early November, remaining on their practice squad for the rest of the 2022 season.
The Saints released place kicker Alex Quevedo in a corresponding move to make room for Bargas on their 90-man roster, so they’re now at capacity and any future additions will require matching subtractions. Bargas has been tentatively assigned the No. 40 jersey on the team’s online website, but it was already claimed by rookie linebacker Nick Anderson, so Bargas will have to switch to something else. Barring another move, the only eligible numbers for him are Nos. 16 and 19.
