Kellen Moore looks on during Week 2 for the Saints.
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The New Orleans Saints thought they had solved one of their big problems in the early going this season.
And then the Chicago Bears stepped in and decided to ruin that thought.
The issue was one that’s not potentially exciting for casual fans: long snapper.
But the Saints had lost Zach Wood to injured reserve after Week 1. He’s in his 10th season with New Orleans, and he pretty much never missed any time, so that was a big deal by itself.
To replace Wood, the Saints had signed the veteran Scott Daly, who had legitimate NFL experience.
Daly is gone now, too, but not to injury.
Saints Lose Veteran to Bears
The Chicago Bears swooped in and signed Daly on Tuesday.
How can they do that? Because he was on the Saints’ practice squad.
A player on a practice squad can be signed by another team, but it has to be to the new team’s 53-man roster. It’s essentially like a promotion, and that’s what the Bears did with Daly.
#Bears are signing long snapper Scott Daly off the New Orleans practice squad.
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) September 22, 2026
The Saints had only signed Daly to the practice squad because that was where they had space. They then elevated him on gameday. They would’ve gotten to elevate Daly for three games before having to decide whether he needed an active-roster contract.
Players elevated off the practice squad for a game revert automatically to the practice squad afterward, which is how Daly was available for this to happen.
The Bears had Beau Gardner — full name Beggs Barnum Gardner — as their long snapper to start the year. He was named the top long snapper in college football last season while playing for Georgia.
It had not been as good a start to Gardner’s NFL career:
This is the right move. Beau Gardner has been shaky to start the year, and the #Bears know Scott Daly is reliable.
I think Gardner has potential, but he’s not ready to start in the NFL. Week 2 made that abundantly clear. https://t.co/kUfQwY4r9d
— Jacob Infante (@jacobinfante24) September 22, 2026
Gardner’s struggles meant Daly was needed in Chicago, and now the Saints have to find someone new.
2 Options for Saints
The Saints worked out three long snappers last week before choosing to sign one of them, Daly.
The other two who came in for workouts were Luke Basso and Niko Lalos.
The reality is that the quickest move for the Saints would be to call one of them up and sign them, whichever guy they liked better. It would save the time that bringing in new players for workouts would require.
However, if New Orleans didn’t like Basso or Lalos, then they might have no choice but to hold another long snapper workout just a week after the one for Daly.
Daly flew under the radar in Sunday’s 24-17 win over the Ravens, which is good for a long snapper — it means he didn’t do anything egregiously wrong.
But because of Daly’s reliability, the Bears swooped in, and the Saints now need to find someone else to fill this key but unheralded role.
Enter Heavy's 2026 Pro Football Pick'em contest
Billy Heyen Billy Heyen is a Heavy contributor with focus on the NFL and MLB. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who spent his senior year following Jim Boeheim's basketball team around the country. His reporting work has also included extensive work for The Sporting News, the Sandusky Register and Rochester's Democrat & Chronicle. Adventures in sports writing have also led to in-person coverage of the Buffalo Sabres, Cleveland Guardians, U.S. men's national soccer team and a variety of minor league baseball stories. More about Billy Heyen
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