New Orleans Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis announced Wednesday that the club has signed QB Sean Canfield, G Nick Howell, DT Mitch King, CB Kmaal McIlwain, DB Cord Parks, WR Andy Tanner, RB Chris Taylor, T Phil Trautwein, T Fenuki Tupou, DB Josh Victorian to futures contracts.
Canfield, 6-4, 224, was originally a seventh-round draft pick of the Saints in 2010. He served as the club's third quarterback on the roster for one game in 2010 and for the Indianapolis contest on October 23, 2011, while also being a member of the team's practice squad over the past two seasons. Canfield appeared in 25 games with 24 starts for Oregon State and completed 522-of-861 passes (64.1%) for 5,970 yards, 38 touchdowns and 26 interceptions, while adding three rushing scores.
Howell, 6-5, 295, was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Tennessee Titans in 2010. After spending the entire 2010 preseason with the Titans, he spent the final month of the season on the San Francisco 49ers practice squad. Howell went to training camp with the 49ers in 2011. In four seasons at the University of Southern California, the Fresno, Calif., native appeared in 35 games with six starts, working at every offensive line position in his college career.
King, 6-2, 280, appeared in the first three regular season games of 2011 for New Orleans, recording five tackles (three solo), prior to spending the remainder of the season on the club's practice squad. Originally an undrafted free agent signed by Tennessee in 2009, he appeared in four games for Indianapolis in 2010, making three tackles (one solo) and spend the final two weeks on the Saints practice Squad. King was a four-year letterman at Iowa from 2005-08, where he totaled 228 career tackles, 17.5 sacks, 12 passes defensed, six forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. He was the Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the year, first-team All-Conference and Associated Press second-team All-American as a senior, recording 54 tackles and four sacks.
McIlwain, 5-10, 175, spent the final two months of the 2011 season on the New Orleans practice squad. He went to 2011 training camp with the Atlanta Falcons following a career at Newberry College, where he made a total of 93 tackles with six interceptions, 24 pass defenses, two fumble recoveries, four blocked kicks and two touchdowns. As a senior in 2010, McIlwain posted 25 tackles (20 solo), two interceptions and eight pass defenses. He also averaged 33 yards per kickoff return including an 80-yard return for a touchdown.
Parks, 5-10, 178, most recently went to training camp with the Minnesota Vikings in 2011. The Northeastern (Stone Mountain, Ga.) alum spent most of the 2010 season on the practice squad of the Seattle Seahawks, after being claimed off of waivers from St. Louis in the offseason. Parks was initially signed by the Rams as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2009 and spent the first 15 weeks of the season on the practice squad until being signed to the active roster. He played in the Rams' final two games of 2009 and posted one tackle.
Tanner, 6-0, 183, spent most of the 2011 season on the New Orleans practice squad. Tanner was originally signed by New Orleans as a rookie free agent in 2010 and spent the final two weeks of that campaign on the team's practice roster. He played in 38 games at Division II Midwestern State, catching 120 passes for 1,716 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Taylor, 6-0, 224, spent the final two weeks of the 2011 season and most of the 2010 campaign on the New Orleans practice squad. Originally signed by the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2006, Taylor has appeared in seven NFL contests and has rushed 42 times for 160 yards with one touchdown, while adding three receptions for 40 yards. Taylor finished his collegiate career at Indiana with 1,762 yards rushing on 402 carries with 12 rushing touchdowns and one receiving score.
Trautwein, 6-6, 310, spent the final seven weeks of the 2011 season on the Saints practice squad, after going to training camp with the Cleveland Browns. Originally signed by St. Louis as an undrafted free agent in 2009, Trautwein appeared in four games for the Rams that season and also spent part of his rookie campaign on the active roster of the Cleveland Browns, for whole he was also a member of their practice squad in 2010. Trautwein was a four-year letterman at the University of Florida.
Tupuo, 6-5, 323, joined the New Orleans practice squad on October 3, where he would spend the remainder of the 2011 season. Originally drafted by Philadelphia out of the University of Oregon in 2009 in the fifth round of the 2009 draft, he spent his rookie season on injured reserve with a chest injury and spent most of the 2010 campaign on the Eagles practice squad. The Sacramento, Calif., native started served as the Ducks' starting left tackle from 2007-08 after transferring from Sierra College.
Victorian, 5-10, 190, is a St. Rose native who comes to New Orleans after spending nearly two months of the regular season on the New England Patriots practice squad. Victorian was originally signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in July, 2011, following a four-year career at Louisiana Tech, where he finished with 87 tackles (63 solo), five interceptions and 27 pass defenses. Victorian was a three-year letterman at Destrehan High School.
