He signed with the Minnesota Vikings practice squad, then was poached off the Vikings practice squad by the Browns — who, coincidentally, will play against the Saints in New Orleans this week. Estime appeared in one game with the Browns, rushing for 19 yards and a touchdown on nine carries, before Cleveland waived him this week.

Estime appeared in seven games with New Orleans last season, rushing for 198 yards and a touchdown on 46 carries (4.3 yards per carry).

It remains to be seen what kind of role Estime will have with the Saints, but he rejoins a unit that has been one of the NFL’s least effective rushing offenses to start the 2026 season.

New Orleans enters Week 9 with the NFL’s No. 28 rushing offense, mustering just 86 yards per game, and the Saints’ 3.5 yards-per-carry average ranks 30th. The Saints are also coming off a game in which they gained just 18 rushing yards on 17 carries against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Running back Travis Etienne, one of the Saints’ top offseason acquisitions, has been on injured reserve since Week 4 with a hamstring injury. He is eligible to return to the field this week, but it is possible he needs more time to recover.

Kendre Miller and Alvin Kamara have taken on most of the workload in Etienne’s absence but have largely struggled. Miller is averaging just 2.8 yards per carry, while Kamara hasn’t fared much better at 3.0 yards per carry.

New Orleans fired run-game coordinator T.J. Paganetti earlier this week.