It turned out to be a short stay on reserve/COVID-19 for New Orleans Saints linebacker Kaden Elliss, who was designated to the reserve list Thursday. NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill reported that the Saints will remove Elliss from the list after twice testing negative for COVID-19, which was confirmed by Amie Just of The Times-Picayune/Advocate. It suggests that the initial test result to put Elliss in the NFL’s COVID-19 protocol may have been a false-positive, but the real takeaway is that Elliss was fortunate to escape a serious infection.
That’s great news for the second-year pro out of Idaho, who was picked by the Saints late in the 2019 NFL Draft. Elliss initially showed out on special teams in training camp last summer before working his way into the linebacker rotation, splitting time with Kiko Alonso as the team’s third linebacker in base sets (starters Demario Davis and A.J. Klein rarely left the field). An unfortunate knee injury in Week 3’s road win over the Seattle Seahawks ended his rookie season, but he’s back now and looking to carve out a larger role for himself.
And his help couldn’t arrive at a better time. Including Elliss, the Saints have just four linebackers under contract past the 2020 season; former practice squad call-up Andrew Dowell and rookies Zack Baun and Joe Bachie round out the group. If any of them can impress enough to earn starter’s reps this year, they could become a big asset to the team in years to come.
