The New Orleans Saints have placed high-priced free agent acquisition Jairus Byrd on season-ending injured reserve, head coach Sean Payton announced Friday. Byrd tore his lateral meniscus in practice on Thursday.
Jairus Byrd placed on IR with torn meniscus
The biggest signee of free agency is done for the year after suffering an injury in practice Thursday.
Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
The team announced that Rafael Bush will replace Byrd in the starting lineup.
The Saints signed the Pro Bowl safety away from the Buffalo Bills in the offseason on a six-year, $54 million contract, one of the biggest splashes in free agency. He was expected to join Kenny Vaccaro and Keenan Lewis to make an already dominant secondary much more dangerous, but the unit has struggled up this point. A year after ranking second in the NFL in pass defense, the Saints have allowed 273 passing yards per game (28th in the NFL) in 2014.
Byrd has contributed to the letdown. He grades out as just the 47th-best safety at Pro Football Focus, which credits him with seven missed tackles and states that quarterbacks throwing into his coverage have a 93.8 passer rating.
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