The New Orleans Saints made four roster moves on Tuesday.

They signed free-agent WR/KR Courtney Roby and waived TE Buck Ortega.

Roby is a fourth-year veteran player who first signed with the Saints midway through the 2008 season and served as the team’s primary kickoff returner for five games before landing on injured reserve. The 6-foot, 189-pound receiver from the University of Indiana averaged 24.8 yards on 19 kickoff returns for the Saints last season.

In 31 career regular-season games, Roby has caught 23 passes for 317 yards and a touchdown and averaged 23.2 yards on 46 kickoff returns. He originally entered the NFL as a third-round draft choice of the Tennessee Titans in 2005 and has also seen action for the Indianapolis Colts. The Indianapolis native played in three games for the Saints this preseason and averaged 21.8 yards on six kickoff returns along with one reception for eight yards.

Because RB/KR Pierre Thomas is still recovering from what's believed to be a grade-2 MCL sprain, the team felt the need to bring back Roby.

Ortega first joined the Saints as a member of the practice squad late in the 2007 season. The 6-4, 250-pound tight end split the 2008 campaign between the practice squad and the active roster, and played in 12 games and caught one pass for three yards and made 11 tackles on special teams, including making one stop in kick coverage in Sunday’s season-opener.

The team also made two practice squad moves by signing TE Tyler Lorenzen and releasing WR Matt Simon.

Lorenzen (6-5, 229 pounds) is a former college quarterback at the University of Connecticut who transitioned to tight end after being signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent this spring. He caught one pass – a 20-yard touchdown – and recovered a fumble on special teams in preseason action with Jacksonville before being waived September 1.

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