The New Orleans Saints have signed running back Latavius Murray and defensive back Tre Swilling to the practice squad and terminated the practice squad contract of wide receiver Dai'Jean Dixon, it was announced today by Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis.
Murray, 6-3, 230, was originally a sixth round draft pick (181st overall) of the Oakland Raiders in 2013 out of UCF. In nine seasons with the Raiders (2013-16), Minnesota Vikings (2017-18), Saints (2019-20) and Baltimore Ravens (2021), Murray has appeared in 122 regular season games with 69 starts and has carried 1,310 times for 5,492 yards (4.2 avg.) with 49 touchdowns. In the passing game, he has caught 195 balls for 1,369 yards and two touchdowns. Murray has appeared in five playoff games with four starts and has carried 46 times for 137 yards with two touchdowns and caught eight passes for 55 yards and one score.
The Nedrow, N.Y. native signed with the Saints as an unrestricted free agent in the 2019 offseason and from 2019-20, appeared in 31 games with 15 starts and carried 292 times for 1,293 yards with nine touchdowns and caught 57 passes for 411 yards with two touchdowns. Murray spent the 2021 season with the Baltimore Ravens and played in 14 games with six starts, carrying 119 times for 501 yards (4.2 avg.) with six touchdowns, while recording ten receptions for 75 yards.
Swilling, 6-1, 196 is a New Orleans native, originally signed with the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent out of Georgia Tech in the offseason, participating in training camp for the Titans. Swilling appeared in 42 games with 40 starts over four seasons at Georgia Tech (2018-21) and totaled 100 career tackles, 5.5 stops for loss, two sacks, two interceptions, 28 passes defensed, one forced fumble and three fumble recoveries. Swilling started all 12 games as a redshirt junior in 2021 and posted a career-high 33 tackles, two stops for loss, one sack and seven passes defensed after graduating with a degree in business administration in December, 2020.
Swilling was a standout at Brother Martin High School. In 2015, Swilling was named second-team All-State, first-team All-District and All-Metro after recording 53 tackles and three interceptions. His father, Pat, was selected by the Saints in the third round of the 1986 NFL Draft and played for the Black and Gold for seven seasons, recording 76.5 sacks, which ranks fourth in NFL history, earned 1991 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and is a member of the Saints Hall of Fame and Saints All-50th team.
