The Sports Xchange

The New Orleans Saints released veteran kicker Shayne Graham, who was due to earn a $970,000 base salary in 2015.

The Saints have former Buffalo Bills draft pick Dustin Hopkins on the roster and signed second-year kicker Zach Hocker following a tryout at the team’s rookie minicamp.

Graham, 37, was re-signed in February after converting 19 of 22 (86.4 percent) of his field-goal attempts last season, including all 15 attempts from inside of 40 yards.

Hopkins was a sixth-round pick in 2013, but missed his rookie season due to a hamstring injury and watched as Dan Carpenter took over the kicking job. He signed with the Saints in December, but has yet to attempt a kick during a regular-season NFL game. Hocker was a seventh-round pick by the Washington Redskins last year but was unable to unseat incumbent Kai Forbath. He signed a futures contract with the Miami Dolphins in January, but was released earlier this month.

The team signed former San Francisco 49ers practice squad wide receiver Lance Lewis to fill Graham’s roster spot.