Former Pro Bowl running back Jordan Howard returned to the NFL on Wednesday, when the New Orleans Saints signed the Gardendale High School and UAB alumnus for their practice squad.

Two other players with Alabama football roots also appeared on the NFL’s transactions report for Wednesday:

· The Kansas City Chiefs signed defensive tackle Taylor Stallworth (Murphy) from their practice squad for the active roster. Stallworth is a four-year NFL veteran who played in 32 games for the Indianapolis Colts over the previous two seasons before signing with the Chiefs in April as a free agent.

· The Cleveland Browns signed tight end Miller Forristall (Alabama) for their practice squad. Forristall made a quick return to the roster for the Browns after already playing in two games with Cleveland this season. Forristall played once as a practice-squad elevation and once as a member of the active roster. The Browns released Forristall from the active roster on Monday and, when he cleared waivers, re-signed him for the practice squad on Wednesday.

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The Saints added Howard after the Denver Broncos signed New Orleans practice-squad running back Latavius Murray for their active roster last week.

Howard spent the 2021 season bouncing between the Philadelphia Eagles’ practice squad and active roster. He ran for 406 yards and three touchdowns on 86 carries and caught two passes for 19 yards in seven games.

Howard entered the NFL as a fifth-round pick of the Chicago Bears in the 2016 draft.

Howard earned a Pro Bowl invitation as a rookie in 2016 and became the 21st player in NFL history with at least 3,370 rushing yards and 24 rushing touchdowns in his first three seasons, a list that started with four running backs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame – Jim Brown, Walter Payton, Tony Dorsett and Earl Campbell.

RELATED: ALABAMA HIGH SCHOOLS’ TOP 10 NFL RUSHERS

Traded by the Bears to the Eagles in 2019, Howard had run for 525 yards and six touchdowns when he suffered a shoulder injury in the ninth game of the season. He didn’t carry the ball again in 2019.

Howard signed a two-year, $9.75 million contract with the Miami Dolphins as an unrestricted free agent in 2020. He had 33 yards and four touchdowns on 28 rushing attempts when the Dolphins released him on Nov. 17, 2020. He finished the 2020 season on the Eagles’ practice squad and gained 27 yards on seven rushing attempts in two games.

Before entering the NFL, Howard starred at Gardendale High School, running for 2,876 yards on 380 carries for the Rockets in his two varsity seasons.

At UAB, Howard set the school single-season rushing record with 1,587 yards in 2014. He transferred after the Blazers shut down their football program, and he spent an All-Big Ten season at Indiana between playing at UAB and the NFL.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.