The New Orleans Saints are officially staring down a season without promising young running back Devin Neal, a gut punch that just landed as the team finalized its initial 53-man roster on Sunday. This isn’t a “maybe he’ll be back late in the year” situation, either. Neal’s 2026 season is over, done, finished, before it even had a chance to start.
The Brutal Reality of Being Sidelined
You gotta feel for the guy. New Orleans placed Neal on injured reserve, and unlike wide receiver Jordyn Tyson and linebacker Jaylan Ford, Neal received absolutely no return designation. That’s the cold, hard truth of it: he’s out for the entire 2026 campaign. It’s a brutal blow, especially when you consider he’s been battling a nagging hamstring injury all through August. You could see him pushing, trying to get right, but it all came to a head when he aggravated that injury during the Saints’ preseason loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Talk about a tough break. To grind through the whole preseason, fighting for a spot and battling an injury, only for it to end like this? It’s soul-crushing for any player, especially a young one trying to establish himself.
A Hammered Running Back Room
This isn’t just one guy down, either, which is what makes it such a catastrophe for the Saints. This is *another* blow to a running back room that has already been absolutely hammered with injuries throughout the entire summer. It’s a depth issue that’s become a glaring problem way too early. Neal, a sixth-round pick out of Kansas in the 2025 NFL Draft, was more than just a roster filler. He appeared in all 16 games as a rookie, rushing for a respectable 206 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 3.6 yards per carry. He wasn’t just there; he was making plays. This season, he was absolutely competing for a larger role, looking to build on that rookie year and become a bigger contributor. Now, that opportunity is gone, and New Orleans has to figure out how to move forward without one of its key young backfield options.
It’s a tough pill to swallow for the Saints and their fans. They have to regroup immediately, because the regular season is right around the corner. The challenge now is how they stitch together a functional running game when a promising piece like Neal has been ripped away before the first snap even counts. What a rough start to the year for that backfield.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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