A day after attending a back-to-school event like a typical 41-year-old father of four, John Kasay was on a morning flight from Charlotte to New Orleans and resuming is two-decade career as an NFL kicker.
“That’s how fast life changes,” said Kasay, who joined the Saints in time to practice Tuesday evening, two days after Garrett Hartley hurt his right hip while kicking an extra point in New Orleans’ victory at Oakland on Sunday night.
As suddenly as Kasay found himself back in the pros, former Saints starting defensive end Alex Brown was looking for a job.

Brown, who has played nine NFL seasons and started every game for New Orleans in 2010, was among 11 players let go by the Saints on Tuesday, when NFL teams were required to trim preseason rosters to 80.
Brown was slated to earn $3 million in base salary this season and the Saints had added depth at his position in the offseason, drafting California standout end Cam Jordan 24th overall last spring, then signing former Detroit defensive end Turk McBride shortly after the NFL lockout ended.
“It was a hard decision. We spent a lot of time on it,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “It wasn’t that we just drafted a young player at that position. I think you try to factor in all the practice snaps, all the game film and it was something that, after going through it all and also looking at the timing of it, there’s still that opportunity within the next week that he’ll have a chance to sign with someone else.“
“Also, that door’s not totally shut if that opportunity presents itself here,” Payton added.
That opportunity could present itself for a couple of reasons, one being that Will Smith might have to serve a four-game suspension because he was among several players who tested positive for a banned diuretic in 2008. The NFL has not yet announced when or if it will impose the punishment for those players, which has been delayed by legal proceedings.
Payton, however, said the Saints tried not to allow uncertainty surrounding Smith to figure into their evaluation of Brown.
“We really tried not to because then we’d be making a decision predicated on a possible or not possible suspension,” Payton said. “I would say to you honestly that that didn’t come into play, because if it had come into play more, then we might have gone in a different direction.”
As a rookie out of Florida, Brown started nine games for Chicago in 2002 and has remained a full-time starter for most of his career, including for all 48 regular season games since 2008.

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