Saints CB Travis Manning Begins Opportunity For Roster Spot

Rookie cornerback Travis Manning hasn’t even been with the New Orleans Saints a week yet but he’s already in the mix for a potential roster spot.

The team has been hit with a series of injuries leading up to this point and the once flourishing with depth cornerback spot isn’t immune.

Head coach Sean Payton refuses to speak about injuries during training camp so most of the injury talk is speculation sprinkled with a little detective work.

For example, Payton may not talk about injuries but when you’re working out players in a specific group then either a player is being placed on injured reserve or the team is doing their homework due to a current player’s injury isn’t progressing well.

We saw it with rookie tight end Jack Tabb who went down screaming and clutching his knee during a drill recently and several tight ends were brought in to be worked out immediately with the club signing veteran Alex Smith after waiving Tabb who then went on IR.

Manning(6-0, 190 lbs.) was brought in for a workout recently along with former New England Patriot Alfonzo Dennard for some security in the secondary.

To beat out Dennard, who was at one time a fixture in the Patriots secondary, says a lot about the undrafted rookie out of Northwest Missouri State.

Manning redshirted in 2009 for NW Missouri and didn’t see action until 2011 where he recorded 43 tackles and two interceptions.

More from Big Easy Believer

In 2012 he was named all-MIAA honorable mention and appeared in all 13 games for that season, recording 53 tackles and four interceptions.

He saw more of a starting role during his 2013 season(14 games) and had another good season, recording 40 solo tackles, recovered two fumbles, and had three interceptions.

For Manning’s senior year in 2014, opposing quarterbacks didn’t test him as much but he still had 32 tackles with four for a loss, two forced fumbles, and one interception that he returned for a touchdown.

He was signed by the Green Bay Packers following the draft this year and was released ironically to allow room for tight end Harold Spears who the Saints had released.

While Manning isn’t likely in contention for a starting spot, he could very well climb up to a possible backup role considering who is in front of him.

Current cornerbacks Keenan Lewis, along with rookie P.J. Williams and Damian Swann have been held out of practices as well as the recent Black and Gold Scrimmage.

Several members of the cornerback group have been struggling or just not being noticed up to this point.