The New Orleans Saints host the Minnesota Vikings at the Superdome on Sunday as part of Week 5 of the 2026 NFL season.
Before that, though, the Saints made an unexpected cut of a wide receiver less than 24 hours before the game kicked off on Sunday afternoon.
The official NFL transaction report that came out at 4 p.m. ET showed that the Saints are releasing Kevin Austin Jr.
While Austin wasn't a key contributor at the moment, it's also rare for a player to get released on a Saturday like this.
The Saints appear to have decided to go in a different direction at the wide receiver position in Week 5.
Austin had been one of five healthy Saints WRs on the 53-man roster along with Chris Olave, Bryce Lance , Devaughn Vele and Barion Brown .
This move cleared a spot, though, and New Orleans quickly filled it.
The Saints had yet to elevate Cedric Tillman from the practice squad this season, but that's the move they're making for Sunday.
Tillman came aboard before Week 1 after the Cleveland Browns parted ways with him, and he's a lanky, athletic receiver who still seems to have some potential.
It really seems to be that simple. The Saints wanted Tillman active this week as they attempt to improve on their 1-3 start. Someone had to go, and it ends up being Austin.
Austin was originally an undrafted player out of Notre Dame.
He joined the Saints in 2024 and played eight games as a rookie. He caught 11-of-22 targets for 151 yards.
Austin then played another eight games in 2025, this time catching 13-of-23 targets for 140 yards and a touchdown.
The Saints did have Austin active for all four games so far this season. He caught the only target thrown his way for seven yards.
One thing working against Austin is that he isn't a special teams contributor. Bottom of the depth chart wide receivers often get to make plays somewhere on special teams, but Austin hasn't done that in his career.
The Saints had even begun to play Barion Brown a bit more recently, so there just really wasn't a reason to have Austin on the roster. He hasn't contributed enough to take a different approach.
So instead, New Orleans will give a look to Tillman. Austin will seek a new NFL beginning elsewhere — although nothing stops the Saints from signing Austin back if Tillman doesn't work out.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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