Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis announced today that the New Orleans Saints have signed kicker Austin Seibert to the practice squad and safety Johnathan Abram to the active roster.
The Oakland Raiders selected Abram, who stands 5-11 and 205, with the 27th overall pick in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft out of Mississippi State. The Columbia, Mississippi native, who attended East Marion High School, has played in 46 career regular season games with 37 starts. He has recorded 264 tackles (165 solo), eight stops for loss, nine quarterback hits, three interceptions, 14 passes defensed, one fumble recovery, 11 special teams stops, and one coverage fumble recovery in his five seasons with the Raiders (2019–2022), Green Bay Packers (2022), Seattle Seahawks (2022), and Saints (2023).
Abram has participated in three games for the Black and Gold in 2023, making one start, and has tallied eight tackles (three solo). Abram played for Las Vegas, Green Bay, and Seattle in 15 regular season games (2022), starting eight of them. He finished with 58 tackles (41 solo), two quarterback hits, three passes defensed, and two coverage stops. In addition to adding two solo tackles in the NFC Wild Card Playoff game, he was a crucial addition for Seattle towards the end of the season, giving them depth in the secondary.
After transferring from Jones County (Miss.) Community College, Abram played in 26 games with 18 starts during his final two years of college at Mississippi State (2017–18). He totaled 17 tackles, including 14 for loss, five sacks, two interceptions, ten passes defensed, three forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery.
The Cleveland Browns originally selected Seibert, a 5-9, 200-pound player out of Oklahoma, in the fifth round (170th overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft. He has made 45 of 56 field goal attempts (80.4%) and 56 PATs in 31 career games for the Browns (2019–20), Cincinnati Bengals (2020), Detroit Lions (2021–22), and New York Jets (2023), totaling 191 points. Seibert was chosen as the 2019 PFWA All-Rookie after making 25 of 29 field goals (86.2%) and 30 PATs for a total of 105 points. The Belleville, Illinois native left Oklahoma having scored the highest number of points in FBS history during his career (499) and was named the Big 12 Special Teams player of the year in 2018 as a senior. He made 17 of 19 kicks (89.5%) and 87 of 88 PATs for 138 points.
