It's the kind of news no team wants to see in the dog days of camp. Adam Schefter broke word Saturday that Saints offensive lineman Dillon Radunz tore his ACL during practice, with head coach Kellen Moore confirming the diagnosis. Season over before it started.
Saints offensive lineman Dillon Radunz tore his ACL during Saturday’s practice, per HC Kellen Moore.
Per reporting on the injury, Radunz went down during 1-on-1 O-line/D-line drills early in Saturday's session, his knee buckling on a rep against defensive tackle Vernon Broughton. He didn't return, and the ACL diagnosis followed shortly after.
This one stings for New Orleans specifically because of the timeline. Radunz, a 2021 second-round pick out of North Dakota State who started his career with the Titans, signed a one-year deal with the Saints last March and turned it into 15 games and 10 starts at left guard. That performance earned him a two-year extension this past March — a vote of confidence in his spot as a starter-caliber piece up front. Instead, he's now out before Week 1 even gets set.
It also isn't an isolated gut punch. Radunz is the second Saints player to blow out his ACL in camp this summer, joining defensive tackle Bryan Bresee, who went down on essentially the opening day of camp. Two significant non-contact knee injuries in the same training camp is brutal luck for a roster that was already trying to figure out its identity under Moore heading into year one.
For New Orleans, the practical fallout is a scramble up front. Losing a guard who logged 10 starts a year ago means the depth chart shifts and the front office has to lean on whoever's next in line — or go shopping. It's a rough way to open the summer for a team that needed continuity on the line, not another rehab timeline to track.