Auburn alumni Montravius Adams and Kerryon Johnson returned to the NFL on Tuesday.
The New Orleans Saints signed Adams, a defensive tackle, for their active roster.
The San Francisco 49ers picked up Johnson, a running back, for their practice squad.
This is the second time that the Saints have signed Adams in a nine-day span.
Adams spent his first four NFL seasons with the Green Bay Packers before signing with the New England Patriots as a free agent in March. The Patriots released Adams when they reduced their preseason roster to the regular-season limit of 53 players.
Adams signed with New Orleans on Sept. 6. But on Saturday, the day before the Saints’ season-opening game against the Green Bay Packers, New Orleans released Adams and signed defensive tackle Albert Huggins from its practice squad.
On Tuesday, the Saints waived fullback Adam Prentice, an undrafted rookie who did not play in New Orleans’ 38-3 victory over the Packers, and brought back Adams.
The 49ers signed Johnson for their practice squad on the same day that they placed No. 1 running back Raheem Mostert on injured reserve. Mostert sustained a season-ending knee injury in San Francisco’s season-opening 41-33 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
A player on the practice squad practices with the team but cannot play in games unless he’s one of the two practice-squad elevations that each team is allowed for each game.
Johnson was waived by the Philadelphia Eagles on Aug. 18 with an injury designation, which sent him to injured reserve when he went unclaimed. The Eagles released Johnson from IR with an injury settlement on Aug. 26.
An injury settlement is an agreement between a player on injured reserve and his team that allows them to part ways immediately. Usually, the settlement pays a player for the number of regular-season games that his injury is likely to keep him sidelined.
Johnson earned All-State recognition for three consecutive AHSAA championship teams and received the Class 3A Player of the Year Award in 2014 at Madison Academy. Johnson won the SEC Offensive Player of the Year Award when he led the conference in rushing in 2017, and in his first two seasons in the NFL, Johnson led the Detroit Lions in rushing, too.
But both seasons included knee injuries, causing Johnson to miss 14 games. Last season, Johnson had a reduced role behind Adrian Peterson and D’Andre Swift.
The Lions waived Johnson on May 6, with the Eagles adding him to their roster the next day.
In three NFL seasons, Johnson has played in 34 games with 16 starts. He has rushed for 1,225 yards and eight touchdowns on 283 carries and caught 61 passes for 527 yards and three touchdowns.
While Adams and Johnson joined NFL rosters on Tuesday, former Auburn guard Mike Horton lost his roster spot. The Carolina Panthers released Horton from their practice squad.
Horton spent most of last season as an undrafted rookie on Carolina’s practice squad, and he re-signed for practice-squad duty after the Panthers let him go in their cut to the regular-season roster limit.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
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