Most NFL fans don’t spend too much time thinking about long snappers.
There are likely many fans of the New Orleans Saints who didn’t realize that they had the same long snapper for the last 10 years: Zach Wood.
Wood probably wouldn’t even be bothered if a fan didn’t know who he was. That means he was doing his job well.
That’s the thing — a long snapper doesn’t want to be noticed. He wants to be clean and efficient, each and every time. If someone is talking about the long snapper, it means he did something wrong.
Wood rarely did wrong, and that’s why he was relied upon by the Saints for a decade.
They won’t have him for the next few weeks at least, though. That starts in Week 2 at the Baltimore Ravens, when the Saints will be plugging in a different long snapper.
Why Don’t Saints Have Long Snapper Zach Wood?
Wood has been placed on injured reserve, which will keep him out for at least four weeks.
He has a Grade II calf strain.
Wood wasn’t even on the Saints’ Wednesday injury report, but he underwent testing after practice, and that’s when it became clear the injury was as bad as it was.
Wood is tied for the second-longest tenured Saints player.
Cameron Jordan has been around longer, and then Wood is tied with Alvin Kamara.
One of the best aspects about about Wood is that he hasn’t missed a game in a Saints uniform. He signed in 2017 and has been available week in and week out.
The Saints have a tough stretch coming up: Ravens, Raiders, Falcons, Vikings, Giants, Steelers. The sooner they can get Wood back, the better.
Who is Saints’ New Long Snapper?
The Saints’ long snapper in Week 2 will be Scott Daly.
He was signed during the week to the practice squad and elevated for gameday.
Daly is 32 years old and originally from the state of Illinois. He was ranked the No. 1 long snapper in the nation in high school and went to Notre Dame.
Daly has appeared in 76 career NFL games. That includes 17 games apiece in 2021 and 2022 with the Detroit Lions, then eight more for the Lions in 2023.
He then played all 17 games in each of the past two seasons for the Chicago Bears.
Daly made an impact as a tackler for the Bears on punt coverage, too, with eight tackles across the last two seasons.
The veteran also got playoff experience for the first time last season with Chicago, appearing in two postseason games for the NFC North champs.
It’s hard to know exactly why Daly wasn’t signed this offseason as a free agent, but he gets an early chance now to contribute to the Saints.
Why Saints Have New Long Snapper After 10 Years