Desmond

Trufant

Trufant was cut by the Saints one week ago and quickly found a new home in Las Vegas. The veteran corner played 57 snaps for the Saints across two games, notching two tackles. Trufant will look to add depth to a shoddy Raiders secondary.

Trufant was added as insurance in September and did his part with two tackles on 57 defensive snaps (16%) across two appearances. The Saints also released K Cody Parkey and DB Brian Poole.

The Saints only had three cornerbacks listed on their roster headed into Week 1, so soon-to-be 31-year-old (on Friday) Trufant gives the team some needed experienced depth at the position. Trufant signed with the Bears in the offseason but was among Chicago’s final cuts last week.

Trufant was away from the Bears for a large chunk of training camp following the death of his father. Coach Matt Nagy apparently didn’t see enough of him to be comfortable with the 30-year-old in his secondary. The longtime Falcon has been limited to 15 starts over the past two seasons, but that deep well of experience will undoubtedly earn him calls on the open market.

Trufant was a below league-average player while struggling through soft tissue injuries with the Lions last season, permitting 12.9 yards per catch in the only six games he was available for. The Bears undoubtedly envision him as Kyle Fuller’s replacement but Trufant, 31 in August, should realistically be viewed as depth at this stage of his career. It’s a significant downgrade for Chicago’s secondary.

It’s the second time in two offseasons Trufant has been released. The move clears $6.18 million in cap space and leaves behind $6 million in dead money. Trufant’s first and only year in Detroit was an injury-plagued disaster, with the ex-Falcon making just six appearances as he dealt with a marathon hamstring issue, one that finally landed him on injured reserve in December. Headed into his age-31 campaign, Trufant will probably be limited to incentive-laden offers in a year where the salary cap is falling. Injuries have limited him to 15 appearances over the past two seasons.

It’s more bad news for a secondary that’s already without Jeff Okudah (shoulder). Trufant had been playing through a hamstring injury but will be shut down for at least the next three games. The Lions will go with Amani Oruwariye, Darryl Roberts, and Justin Coleman if Okudah doesn’t return in Week 13.

Trufant was held out of last week’s game against Atlanta. He practiced on a limited basis on Thursday and Friday and should be able to play this week.

Trufant has only been healthy for two games this year but he did play on at least 60% of the defensive snaps in both contests. Atlanta should have no problem racking up passing yards against the Detroit defense this week. Clavin Ridley and Julio Jones both project as WR1s this week.

Trufant was ultimately unable to recover from the same injury he suffered in Week 4. The Lions will continue responding with corners Amani Oruwaroye and Jeff Okudah opposite Laviska Shenault and potentially D.J. Chark (ankle, questionable).