Daniel

Lasco

Lasco spent 2018 on reserve/PUP. He won’t be brought back as an exclusive rights free agent. Lasco’s neck issues have his career in doubt.

Lasco missed much of last season with a bulging disc in his neck and still isn’t healthy. The move clears a roster spot for newly-signed Shane Vereen.

Lasco took a big helmet-to-helmet hit early in the fourth quarter. He laid motionless on the ground for several minutes before ultimately being helped off the field. The rookie is competing for a backup job.

He’s mostly playing special teams. A seventh-round pick out of Cal, Lasco is behind Mark Ingram, Travaris Cadet, and Tim Hightower on the depth chart.

It’s a quiet list for the Saints as they play out the string of a lost season.

The deal comes with a $75,472 signing bonus. The seventh-round running back will earn a base salary of $450,000 as a rookie. Lasco underachieved at Cal, but the Saints liked his athleticism enough to spend a late-round flyer on him. Special teams might be Lasco’s ticket to playing time as a rookie.

A 2016 seventh-rounder, Lasco didn’t show enough this preseason to keep his spot. The Saints are going with UDFA Trey Edmunds behind Mark Ingram, Adrian Peterson, and Alvin Kamara.

Lasco will slide in behind Mark Ingram, Alvin Kamara and Trey Edmunds. Lasco appeared in seven games in 2016, notching 11 carries.

Lasco (6'0/209) rebounded from an injury-plagued, underachieving college career to shred the Combine, setting a record for longest broad jump (11'3") by a running back, running 4.46, and finishing as a 98th-percentile SPARQ athlete. Lasco rushed for 1,872 yards and 18 TDs on 348 college carries (5.38 YPC) and caught 48 passes. A favorite of the metrics crowd, Lasco has obvious NFL-caliber athleticism, but didn’t run confidently or aggressively between the tackles at Cal and was wholly ineffective due to a hip injury in 2015. Lasco’s athleticism keeps him on the map as a lottery ticket with explosive ability, some of it unlocked.

Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the injury will end Lasco’s season but is not considered career threatening. Mainly a special teamer, Lasco suffered the injury in kickoff coverage during New Orleans’ Week 10 win over Buffalo.