NEW ORLEANS - Welcome back, Mike McKenzie.
Nearly eight months to the day that the Saints released the veteran cornerback, New Orleans announced Monday afternoon that it was bringing back the fan favorite.
To make room on the roster, the Saints placed cornerback Leigh Torrence on IR. Torrence injured his shoulder in Sunday's 38-7 win over Tampa Bay.
McKenzie, 33, played five seasons in New Orleans, starting 62 of 63 games between 2004-08. He finished with 225 tackles, 58 passes defensed and 12 interceptions.
But he ended the past two seasons with knee injuries. In 2007, he tore his anterior cruciate ligament while covering a deep pass on the third play of the penultimate game of the season against Philadelphia. A season later, he fractured his right patella making a tackle in New Orleans' ninth game of the year.
The Saints released him March 19 and until Monday, he had not been with another team.
The addition of McKenzie comes a week after the team signed three-time Pro Bowler Chris McAlister and adds depth to a suddenly light position. After beginning the season as one of the deepest, the Saints' secondary has seen both starters miss time with injuries as well as having two of the backups go down injured.
Right cornerback Tracy Porter is expected to miss at least 4-6 weeks with a sprained medial collateral ligament while left cornerback Jabari Greer has missed the past two games with a strained groin.
Against the Buccaneers, rookie Malcolm Jenkins picked up the start for Porter while Randall Gay filled in for Greer. But Gay left the game in the second quarter with what appeared to be a hamstring issue and Torrence stepped in. But in the third quarter, Torrence banged up his shoulder making a tackle near the sideline. He returned for one play, but left immediately after.
That forced Usama Young into the lineup, a position he had played in the previous two seasons. But Young was moved to safety prior to 2009 and has barely practied at cornerback this season.
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