The New Orleans Saints have waived Canadian offensive lineman Kyle Hergel.
The 25-year-old played eight regular-season games with the Saints last year, playing 45 offensive snaps and 26 special teams snaps. He originally joined New Orleans as a free agent after going unselected in the 2024 NFL Draft.
The native of Toronto, Ont. played his final collegiate season at Boston College in 2023 where he was named an All-ACC honourable mention at guard. He spent the two previous seasons at Texas State where he was named All-Sun Belt honourable mention in 2021 and third-team All-Sun Belt in 2022.
The six-foot-three, 302-pound blocker started his collegiate career at North Dakota where he was named the FCS Independent Newcomer of the Year in 2019 after redshirting the previous season. Over 54 career collegiate starts, he allowed five sacks and 32 pressures on 1,774 pass-blocking snaps.
Hergel was selected in the first round of the 2024 CFL Draft by the Saskatchewan Roughriders. As such, the team will hold his rights in perpetuity.
All 32 NFL teams must trim their active rosters to 53 players by Tuesday, August 26, after which each team can formulate a 17-man practice roster. It remains unclear if Hergel will be offered a practice roster spot in New Orleans or elsewhere.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders (8-2) will host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (6-4) at Mosaic Stadium on Sunday, August 31 with kickoff slated for 7:00 p.m. EDT. The Blue Bombers are coming off back-to-back wins against Ottawa and Montreal, while the Roughriders had their four-game winning streak snapped by the Stampeders.
The weather forecast in Regina calls for a high of 27 degrees with a mix of sun and cloud. The game will be broadcast on TSN in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the United States, and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune-in on 680 CJOB in Winnipeg and 620 CKRM in Regina.
