SmashMouth

When the New Orleans Saints began the agonizing process of cutting players last Friday to get down to the NFL-mandated 53 players, undrafted rookie Travaris Cadet didn't know what to expect.

Aware that he was considered a long shot to make the Saints' veteran-laden roster despite his splendid preseason, Cadet simply tried to play it cool last week.
But the uncertainty was excruciating. He waited to hear word of his fate, yet no coach or executive came with any good news or bad news.

Veteran teammates had told him that as long as no one from the personnel department summoned him into their office, he was fine.

"I didn't know what expect," Cadet said. "Nobody had really given any information to me. When we had that meeting (on Friday), nobody came up to me and said anything. So I didn't know what to expect. I thought they were supposed to come up and say you (made the team or didn't) or you need to work on this or that.

"I never think about the negative, but at the same time it's in our nature to second guess and sometimes to think a certain way. But at the end of the day you just have to think about the positive and adjust."

Cadet, who led the Saints in preseason with 502 total yards, said he figured he had made the team only after the final roster had been announced and he still hadn't heard from the Saints' personnel department.

Interim Saints coach Aaron Kromer said the decision to keep five tailbacks, including Pierre Thomas, Darren Sproles, Mark Ingram and Chris Ivory was a tough call. But he added that the Saints aren't in the business of releasing good players.

Cadet, however, isn't sure of his role for Sunday's season-opener against the Washington Redskins at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. He knows the Saints likely won't have all five players active on game day.

"My role is unknown," he said. "Of course I am on all phases of special teams, but I guess we will find out at game time."

Either way Cadet said he is ecstatic to have earned a roster spot.

"I'm pretty sure if they kept five running backs, I'm sure they have a plan for all of us," he said. "Who's to say how they are going to use me or Sporles or Ivory. I just feel like we have the best running back crew in the NFL."

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