The New Orleans Saints have signed quarterback Jake Luton to the active roster from the Carolina Panthers practice squad, signed offensive lineman Mark Evans II and safety Daniel Sorensen to the practice squad, terminated the practice squad contract of running back Kirk Merritt and released wide receiver Tre'Quan Smith from Injured Reserve, it was announced by Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis.
Luton (pronounced Loo-ten), 6-6, 224, was originally selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the sixth round (189th overall) in the 2020 NFL Draft out of Oregon State. As a rookie, he started all three games he appeared in for Jacksonville and completed 60-of-110 passes for 624 yards with two touchdowns and six interceptions and rushed for a score. In 2021, he had stints on both the active roster and practice squad of the Seattle Seahawks for the first two months of the regular season before joining the Miami Dolphins practice squad for the final seven weeks. Luton spent two weeks of the 2022 campaign on the Saints active roster and most of the season on the practice squad. Luton competed in the 2023 preseason with Carolina, when he completed 8-of-19 passes for 115 yards with one touchdown and one interception and was on their practice squad in Week Three. The Marysville, Wash. native completed his Oregon State career playing in 23 games for with 21 starts and ranked fifth in school record books with 42 touchdown passes and 5,227 passing yards. As senior in 2019, he completed 222-of-358 passes (62.0%) for 28 touchdowns and only three interceptions. He became only the third signal-caller in Beavers history to throw for more than 20 touchdowns and nine or fewer interceptions. Luton started his career at Idaho in 2015 and spent the 2016 season at Ventura Community College before transferring to Oregon State.
Evans, 6-2, 295, who was originally signed by New Orleans as a free agent after the NFL Draft and started the season on the team's practice squad, was a four-year letterman and three-time all SWAC selection at left tackle at Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The Houston, Texas native received All-Conference honors in 2022 for the third consecutive season. He saw action in all three preseason contests for New Orleans.
Sorensen, entering his tenth NFL season, originally signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent out of Brigham Young University in 2014. In eight seasons in Kansas City and playing for New Orleans in 2022, he has played in 128 regular season games with 41 starts, posting career totals of 395 tackles (298 solo), 4.5 sacks for a loss of 38 yards, 14 interception returns for 303 yards with four touchdowns, 41 passes defensed, four forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, 29 special teams stops, one coverage fumble recovery and one blocked field goal. Sorensen has played in 15 playoff contests for Kansas City with ten starts and has posted 77 tackles (49 solo), a 24-yard interception return, two passes defensed, two forced fumbles and a coverage stop.
A 6-2, 208-pound Colton, Calif. native, Sorensen played in all 17 contests with two starts in 2022 for the Black and Gold and posted 17 tackles (ten solo), two interception returns for 50 yards, three passes defensed and eight special teams stops.
As a four-year letterman at BYU, Sorensen appeared in 51 games, recording 211 tackles (122 solo), one sack, eight interceptions returned for 81 yards and one touchdown, a school-record 23 passes defensed, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
