The New Orleans Saints have cut scandalized quarterback Hunter Dekkers just over a month before the start of the NFL season.
The Saints signed Dekkers, who last played football at a community college, as an undrafted rookie in May.
Dekkers is said to have impressed the team’s coaches during a tryout at their rookie minicamp. Yet, just two months later the signal caller has been released, according to Tina Howell.
Dekkers has prior Division-I college experience, having replaced Brock Purdy as the starting quarterback of Iowa State.
However, he was forced to transfer to the JUCO level after he lost his NCAA eligibility due to illegal gambling.
Dekkers was found to have placed a $15 bet on one of his own team’s games in the 2022 season.
New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore (L) has cut quarterback Hunter Dekkers (R)
Dekkers spent last season at an Iowa community college. He was previously the starting quarterback at Iowa State (above), but lost his eligibility for placing bets on his team’s games.
That year, Dekkers had completed 66 percent of his passes for 3,044 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions for the Cyclones in a 4-8 season.
He was set to be the starter in 2023, but the scandal meant he didn’t play. In his place, Rocco Becht started for the Cyclones.
In Dekkers’ one season with Iowa western CC, he put up an 11-2 record, threw for 3,806 yards and tossed for 32 touchdowns and ten interceptions.
Dekkers’ departure from the Big Easy strips back the Saints’ quarterback room to just three. Spencer Rattler, Jake Haener, and second-round pick Tyler Shough are now left to battle it out for the starters’ job in the wake of Derek Carr’s shock retirement.
Carr, the Saints’ former veteran starter, stunned fans when he announced in May that he would hang up his cleats rather than face an arduous return from shoulder injury.
His retirement left a bleak outlook for New Orleans, who was already projected to struggle with no clear starter emerging.
Kellen Moore, who is heading into his first season as head coach of the Saints, previously revealed that Shough, Rattler, and Haener will all be fighting for the starting spot – and that they might all see starting time in the regular season.
In a corresponding move, the Saints signed punter Kai Kroeger. He had signed with the New York Jets after going undrafted out of South Carolina but was released earlier this month.
