I forget to tell you guys about this yesterday even though I knew about it. Amid the signings of our draft picks, the Saints also released a few players. Once again, the New Orleans Saints official website gently breaks the news to us by subtly hiding it at the end of a positive article.
The Saints also made three other roster moves today, waiving CB Anwar Phillips, QB Travis Lulay and DE Jeremy Geathers.
The staff over at The Advocate have come out with the ultimate Saints training camp preview, putting all over training camp preview to shame. They are Adobe Acrobat files in .pdf format but they are cool with lots of fancy pictures. It also has full schedule, directions, players by position, coaching roster and 2007 statistics. You should definitely check it out. Here is page one and here is page two.
The Advocate also had an article about how all of the major NFL publications have predicted the Saints to win the division. Old news.
From the Sun Herald we have, shockingly, a training camp preview! They give us 10 questions the Saints will face in the next month. Of course most of them are the usual queries regarding Deuce, McKenzie, Reggie, Smith and Grant, cornerback, wide receiver, etc. Here are two of the more interesting questions.
6. Is Sean Payton on the hot seat? Nope. The 2008 roster is too talented not to succeed and Payton is too innovative not to figure out how to run this offense. Like Bush, Payton should be closer to the coach from 2006 than 2007. And think about it, Jim Haslett lasted for six seasons despite only one postseason win. Payton also isn't hanging his coaching career on an inept quarterback.
10. Are the Saints interested in Brett Favre? I think Drew Brees will do just fine and he'd at least call someone other than Greta Van Susteren if he has some beef with Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis. He'd at least call Larry King, Barbara Walters or New Orleans native Ellen Degeneres.
In case you wanted yet another training camp preview, you're in luck! The Sports network has their own. This is what they have to say.
REPORT DATES: Rookies July 23rd, Veterans July 23rd
SITE: Millsaps College, Jackson, MS/Saints Practice Facility, Metairie, LA
CAMP OBJECTIVES: The Saints were horrible against the pass last season, and head coach Sean Payton and defensive coordinator Gary Gibbs need to spend July and August identifying a reliable starting cornerback tandem. Free agent pick- ups Randall Gay (Patriots), Jerametrius Butler (Bills), and Aaron Glenn (Jaguars), and rookie Tracy Porter (Indiana) will be among those with a chance to win jobs. A below-average pass rush was bolstered via the addition of ex- Jaguar Bobby McCray, and first-round draft choice Sedrick Ellis (USC) will be counted on to show progress in the run-stopping game. There isn't much new to speak of on offense for New Orleans, though Payton needs to see progress from Reggie Bush and suitable health from Deuce McAllister in order to take some pressure off of the passing game. Speaking of which, New Orleans must locate a reliable complement to No. 1 wideout Marques Colston, who bore too much of the receiving load last year.
This will soon be all over.
The Times-Pic had a short article about Drew Brees' time in San Diego and his community efforts to raise awareness about childhood obesity. I discussed this event yesterday in Saints News. Okay, so I didn't actually mention the community/raising awareness aspect of it, so here it is.
"This is important because childhood obesity in this country is a major problem," said Brees, a former San Diego Chargers player who still owns an offseason home in Carmel Valley, Calif. "When you talk about this Play 60 campaign, it's urging kids to get out 60 minutes a day and get some form of exercise. It can be sports-related -- whether playing a sport or a hobby -- or just playing out in the yard with their brothers, sisters, parents or friends."
CBS Sports had an update to their usual Notes and Quotes segment. Here was an interesting fact I did not know.
Each team was allowed to distribute $3.15 million to lower-salaried players, depending on the playing time they got last season. Eight Saints received at least $100,000, which is awarded on top of their base pay.
Evans earned $266,667 and ranked ninth in the league. Colston was 11th with $257,894 in extra pay. Both players had base salaries of $360,000.
The Saints' top five also included wide receiver Lance Moore ($143,226), safety Josh Bullocks ($130,456) and running back Pierre Thomas ($129,775).
They also had a quote from Deuce that didn't look familiar to me.
"I'm proud and pleased with (my progress). I don't know if there's really a 'next benchmark' to be met on my part. It's pretty much getting out there and trying to make plays. That's what I am looking forward to."
Some of you wanted more Archie and you've got it. I love Archie just as much as the next guy, and I am never really insulting him, but it is ridiculous the amount of appearances he does. This time it was with former NY city mayor Rudy Guiliani at a conference for the employees of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had the story. Archie had some words of wisdom for everyone.
"I really think, at the end of the day, that's what we come down to, whether we're selling insurance or practicing law or medicine or playing football - you've got to work," Manning said. "To me, that's really the similarity we all go through in our free enterprise system."
Another Kush spotting. This time it was at a Matt Leinart charity bowling event. You can check out a couple of pics I posted in the FanShots. What the heck is the deal with the military inspired clothing Reggie has been sporting? That is the second outfit like that he has been photographed in. Is this the new thing? I run a retail apparel store, do I need to be keeping my eye on this? Weird.