New Orleans Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis announced Tuesday that the team has placed defensive end Charles Grant on the reserve/injured list due to a triceps injury, ending the season for the eight-year veteran. In a related transaction, the Saints have re-signed veteran defensive end Paul Spicer.
Grant was drafted by the club in the first round in 2002 and has anchored the left side of the defensive line since taking over as the starting left defensive end in 2003. In 118 career regular season games, the 6-3, 285-pound lineman has started 106 contests and recorded 47 sacks, 505 tackles (339 solo), 14 forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries and an interception.
The 31-year-old defender started all 16 games for the Saints in the regular season after coming back from a similar injury that ended his 2008 season after eight games. Grant tallied 53 tackles in 2009 with 5½ sacks, two passes defensed and a forced fumble. He ranks eighth in club history in sacks.
Spicer is a 10-year NFL veteran who first joined the Saints as a free agent last spring and played in all four preseason games with the team before being released in the final preseason cutdown. The 6-4, 295-pound lineman has played in 117 career games and tallied 349 tackles (241 solo), 28½ sacks, an interception, 19 pass defenses, seven forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries.
