<span>              <span style="text-decoration: underline;">SAINTS SIGN FB MARCUS MAILEI & LB ANTHONY WATERS; WAIVE ECKEL</span>                

New Orleans Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis announced Wednesday that the club has signed fullback Marcus Mailei from the practice squad of the Philadelphia Eagles and linebacker Anthony Waters from the Buffalo Bills' practice squad and have waived fullback Kyle Eckel.

Mailei is a 6-0, 255-pound rookie from Weber State who signed with the Eagles as an undrafted free agent in April and played well for them in the preseason before landing on their practice squad for the first 13 weeks of the regular season. A two-time All-Big Sky Conference selection in college, the Salt Lake City native caught 58 passes for 563 yards and five touchdowns with 161 yards and three rushing touchdowns on the collegiate level.

Waters re-joins the Saints after putting up a strong fight for a roster spot in the preseason before being waived in final cuts. The 6-3, 238-pound third-year linebacker out of Clemson spent his first two NFL seasons with the San Diego Chargers and has three career tackles on defense and three on special teams in seven games played. The Lake View, S.C. native was signed to the practice squad of the Buffalo Bills in October and spent the past eight weeks there.

Eckel signed with the Saints in late October and played in five games with New Orleans, carrying the ball twice for six yards. The third-year fullback also played on special teams.

The team also announced a pair of practice squad transactions, releasing quarterback Chase Daniel from the practice squad and signing linebacker Prince Kwateng to the practice squad. Kwateng (6-2, 235) is a rookie from Northwestern who played with the California Redwoods of the UFL earlier this fall.