The Saints offered Latavius Murray a spot on the 53-man roster yesterday, according to a source. Murray chose to accept Denver’s offer after Broncos RB Javonte Williams tore his ACL.
— Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill) October 4, 2022
The New Orleans Saints didn’t let Latavius Murray go to the Denver Broncos without a fight, per NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill. Underhill reports that the Saints made Murray an offer to sign with their 53-man roster on Monday, but he turned them down for a better opportunity with the Denver Broncos. Denver lost top running back Javonte Williams to a season-ending knee injury, meaning Murray just has to compete with the likes of Melvin Gordon (already on thin ice with fumbling issues) and Mike Boone for a prime spot in their rotation.
That’s more appealing than the situation Murray found in New Orleans, where Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram II were both ahead of him on the depth chart. So were special teams ace Dwayne Washington and backup runner Tony Jones Jr., both already signed to the 53-man roster, with Murray on the Saints practice squad. So it ultimately came down to Murray’s decision, and he made the right choice to find an easier path to playing-time.
With that said: the Saints could have avoided this in the first place had they signed Murray to the 53-man roster on Saturday, as they did with practice squad quarterback Jake Luton, opening a roster spot by releasing a player like Jones who was inactive Sunday anyway. Instead, they made Murray a single-game elevation and opened the door for other teams to recruit him like this. We can (and are) calling that a poor decision with the benefit of hindsight, but it’s the sort of thing that Sean Payton may have anticipated had he been on top of the organization. With the Saints playing mistake-prone football on the field and doing too little, too late in personnel moves from the front office, it’s tough to find much reason for optimism right now.