Watch videos of players the Saints might Draft
April 16, 2008
D. Rodgers-Cromartie, CB, Tenn State
Keith Rivers, LB, USC
Sedrick Ellis, DL, USC
Leodis Mckelvin, CB, Troy State
Mike Jenkins, CB, UCF
2008 Road Trip for N.O. Tailgaters
April 16, 2008
The 2008 Saints schedule is set. Now we need to start planning a road trip! Looks like the game in Tampa Bay is the closest. Below are the away games. Give some feed back.
Sept. 14 | at Washington | noon
Sept. 21 | at Denver | 3:05 p.m.
Oct. 19 | at Carolina | noon
Nov. 9 | at Atlanta | noon
Nov. 16 | at Kansas City | noon
Nov. 30 | at Tampa Bay | noon
Dec. 11 | at Chicago | 7:15 p.m.
Dec. 21 | at Detroit | noon
2008 New Orleans Saints Schedule
April 15, 2008
PRESEASON
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@ ARIZONA CARDINALS | Aug 07 | 7:00PM | ESPN |
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vs. HOUSTON TEXANS | Aug 16 | 7:00PM | TBA |
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@ CINCINNATI BENGALS | Aug 23 | 6:00PM | TBA |
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vs. MIAMI DOLPHINS | Aug 29 | 7:00PM | TBA |
REGULAR SEASON
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vs. TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS | Sep 07 | 12:00PM | FOX |
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@ WASHINGTON REDSKINS | Sep 14 | 12:00PM | FOX |
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@ DENVER BRONCOS | Sep 21 | 3:05PM | FOX |
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vs. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS | Sep 28 | 12:00PM | FOX |
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vs. MINNESOTA VIKINGS | Oct 06 | 7:30PM | ESPN |
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vs. OAKLAND RAIDERS | Oct 12 | 12:00PM | CBS |
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@ CAROLINA PANTHERS | Oct 19 | 12:00PM | FOX |
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vs. SAN DIEGO CHARGERS | Oct 26 | 12:00PM | CBS |
| BYE | Nov 02 |
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@ ATLANTA FALCONS | Nov 09 | 12:00PM | FOX |
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@ KANSAS CITY CHIEFS | Nov 16 | 12:00PM | FOX |
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vs. GREEN BAY PACKERS | Nov 24 | 7:30PM | ESPN |
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@ TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS | Nov 30 | 12:00PM | FOX |
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vs. ATLANTA FALCONS | Dec 07 | 12:00PM | FOX |
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@ CHICAGO BEARS | Dec 11 | 7:15PM | NFLN |
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@ DETROIT LIONS | Dec 21 | 12:00PM | FOX |
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vs. CAROLINA PANTHERS | Dec 28 | 12:00PM | FOX |
Times Picayune mock draft
April 15, 2008
We’ve made a few tweaks to our mock draft, starting at the top, where offensive tackle Jake Long has supplanted defensive end Chris Long. We’re a little suspicious of these leaked reports that the Dolphins have started negotiating with Jake Long and end/linebacker Vernon Gholston. Since when does Bill Parcells let things slip out that he wants to keep secret? Still, Jake Long seems like the surest bet to be drafted No. 1 or 2 overall, and Chris Long has more potential to slip out of the top five. We also moved up Gholston two spots. Gholston doesn’t really seem to fit the Chiefs’ most glaring needs, but he’s that proverbial “best player available.” Someone’s going to grab him before he falls out of the top five.
1. Miami Dolphins: Jake Long, OT, Michigan
2. St. Louis Rams: Chris Long, DE, Virginia
3. Atlanta Falcons: Matt Ryan, QB, Boston College
4. Oakland Raiders: Glenn Dorsey, DT, LSU
5. Kansas City Chiefs: Vernon Gholston, DE/LB, Ohio State
6. New York Jets: Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas
7. New England Patriots: Sedrick Ellis, DT, USC
8. Baltimore Ravens: Leodis McKelvin, CB, Troy
9. Cincinnati Bengals: Derrick Harvey, DE, Florida
10. SAINTS: KEITH RIVERS, LB, USC
11. Buffalo Bills: Ryan Clady, OT, Boise State
12. Denver Broncos: Branden Albert, G, Virginia
13. Carolina Panthers: Rashard Mendenhall, RB, Illinois
14. Chicago Bears: Chris Williams, OT, Vanderbilt
15. Detroit Lions: Phillip Merling, DE, Clemson
16. Arizona Cardinals: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, CB, Tennessee State
17. Minnesota Vikings: Brian Brohm, QB, Louisville
18. Houston Texans: Mike Jenkins, CB, South Florida
19. Philadelphia Eagles: Jeff Otah, OT, Pittsburgh
20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Devin Thomas, WR, Michigan State
21. Washington Redskins: Aqib Talib, CB, Kansas
22. Dallas Cowboys: DeSean Jackson, WR, California
23. Pittsburgh Steelers: Dan Connor, LB, Penn State
24. Tennessee Titans: Jonathan Stewart, RB Oregon
25. Seattle Seahawks: Limas Sweed, WR, Texas
26. Jacksonville Jaguars: Kentwan Balmer, DT, North Carolina
27. San Diego Chargers: Gosder Cherilus, OT, Boston College
28. Dallas Cowboys: Felix Jones, RB, Arkansas
29. San Francisco 49ers: Quentin Groves, LB, Auburn
30. Green Bay Packers: Kenny Phillips, S, Miami
31. New York Giants: Jerod Mayo, LB, Tennessee
Deuce a Saint ‘for sure’ this season
April 15, 2008
Posted by Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune April 14, 2008 5:47PM
Categories: Saints
Deuce McAllister and the Saints have reached an agreement that ensures he will stick around at least through training camp, according to a spokesperson for the tailback.
McAllister was due a $1 million roster bonus by today, after he and the team agreed to push back his bonus date last month. The team had asked McAllister to restructure his contract, which included a scheduled salary of $3.6 million, plus $1.1 million in bonuses.
Details of the arrangement are unknown, but it’s likely that McAllister agreed to convert some of his salary into performance-based incentives. It’s unknown if McAllister received all or part of his roster bonus.
Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis declined comment Monday, and McAllister was unavailable while traveling out of the country. But he conveyed through a spokesperson that he is “a New Orleans Saint for sure this season” and he is relieved that things have been resolved.
Now all that’s left for the 29-year-old is to prove he can recover from surgery in September on both of his knees and still perform at the elite level that made him the Saints’ all-time leading rusher with 5,678 yards.
When McAllister was last contacted in March, he had not yet begun full-speed running drills, but he expected to be full speed in time for training camp in late July, and possibly in time for the team’s summer minicamp (usually around June 1). His spokesperson said he remains confident in his recovery timetable.
McAllister had surgery to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in late September. At the same time, he had a microfracture procedure on his right knee to clean up some of the damage left over from when he tore his right ACL in 2005.
He came back strong from that first ACL tear. He ran for 1,057 yards and scored 11 touchdowns in the 2006 regular season, never missing a game because of injury. Then in the second round of the playoffs against the Philadelphia Eagles, he rushed for 143 yards and scored two touchdowns.
McAllister signed an eight-year, $50.1 million contract with the Saints in 2005. With his salary scheduled to increase substantially next season and beyond, this likely won’t be the last time his future in New Orleans is in question.
IMPERFECT 10s
April 13, 2008
Burrough, Naeole didn’t work out, at least for Saints
Sunday, April 13, 2008By Mike Triplett
The Saints have drafted two players with the No. 10 pick during franchise history, and both of them went on to long and productive NFL careers — for other teams.
Receiver Ken Burrough, drafted in 1970, played just one season in New Orleans before being traded to Houston, where he excelled the next 11 seasons.
Guard Chris Naeole, the 10th pick in 1997, was a solid starter for most of his five seasons in New Orleans, but he never escaped the stigma of being drafted too high until he left for Jacksonville as a free agent in 2002.
Naeole currently is out of a job after being released by the Jaguars last month. The 33-year-old started 87 games the past six seasons before tearing a quadriceps tendon last Novemeber, coincidentally, at the Superdome.
Naeole will go down as the most famous “Grabowski” ever to wear a Saints uniform. That was the term that Coach Mike Ditka used to describe the kind of tough, hard-nosed player he was looking for when he arrived in 1997.
Still, Ditka’s decision to draft the physical interior lineman with the No. 10 pick was a shocker. In the past 24 years, Naeole is still the only true guard to be selected that high in the NFL draft. He probably would have gone down as Ditka’s most infamous draft choice, had it not been for Kyle Turley in 1998 and Ricky Williams in 1999.
It certainly didn’t help matters when Naeole was limited to four games as a rookie because of knee and ankle injuries. He bounced back, starting 47 games the next three years, but as soon as Naeole had the chance to leave in free agency, he bolted.
“What’s the allure of coming here?” Naeole said upon his arrival in Jacksonville. “It’s a young team and a chance to get away from New Orleans. It’s a chance for a fresh start.”
At the time, the Saints were a team in turmoil. They had just lost their final four games in 2001 by a total of 108 points, and there was disharmony in the locker room, to say the least. But Naeole had been itching for that fresh start for a long time.
“The thing that hurt me the most was getting hurt my rookie year,” Naeole said back then. “People were like, ‘See, he’s a bust.’ So the whole time, you end up fighting that, even though you didn’t create those expectations.”
Burrough, who is most remembered as the only Saint ever to wear No. 00, also failed to make a good first impression. He caught 13 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie, missing two games with a back injury.
He was shipped out a year later in one of the more forgettable trades in Saints history. Burrough and defensive tackle Dave Rowe went to Houston in exchange for a second-round draft pick (tackle Sam Holden), running back Hoyle Granger, tackle Terry Stoepel and defensive end Charlie Blossom.
None of those four players lasted more than a year in New Orleans. Burrough, meanwhile, caught 408 passes for 6,906 yards and 47 touchdowns with the Oilers, earning two trips to the Pro Bowl.
CNNSI’s Don Banks Draft Analysis
April 10, 2008
CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie Tennessee State Sr. 6-2 181
Read more
ESPN Draft Analysis: The SAINTS are on the Clock
April 9, 2008
Saints must improve defense to return to postseason
As the NFL draft approaches, “SportsCenter” is putting every NFL team with a first-round pick “On the Clock,” and Scouts Inc. will break down each team and look at what questions still need answering.
Mock Draft: Saints
The Pick (No. 10 overall):
OLB Keith Rivers, USC
Colston and Evans receive bonus from the NFL’s Performance-Based Pay program
April 8, 2008
For the second consecutive year, Saints receiver Marques Colston and guard Jahri Evans received a bonus from the NFL’s Performance-Based Pay program. Evans received $266,677 on top of his 2007 salary of $360,000. Colston received $257,894 in addition to his salary of $360,000. The money comes out of a pool set aside to supplement the income for the league’s lower-paid players. It is awarded based on playing time.
Times Picayune 2008 Saints Draft Analysis
April 8, 2008
Mike Triplett
We weren’t necessarily waiting for USC’s Pro Day earlier this week before unveiling The Times-Picayune’s mock draft, but it did help put things in focus.
USC’s defensive stars Sedrick Ellis and Keith Rivers gave superb performances on the school’s campus Wednesday, solidifying their status as top prospects in this April’s draft.
Ellis — who looked a bit overweight and sluggish at February’s scouting combine in Indianapolis — reportedly weighed 11 pounds lighter at 297 on Wednesday. He reportedly ran the 40-yard dash in 5.01 seconds (nearly three-tenths faster than his combine time) and bench pressed 225 pounds 36 times.
He also showed superb stamina in a grueling hand-fighting drill with Kansas City Chiefs defensive line coach Tim Krumrie.
Rivers, meanwhile, reportedly ran the 40 in 4.51 seconds after not running at the combine because of an ankle injury, and he wowed scouts with a 42-inch vertical jump.
The end result? We’re now convinced that Ellis will be gone before the Saints make their pick at No. 10.
And we think Rivers will wind up in New Orleans on draft day.
Now, we’re not suggesting that the Saints were swayed by one individual workout. They’ve been building their draft board for the past year, scouting games, practices and individual workouts, and conducting interviews.
But we were swayed just enough to predict that the Saints will choose Rivers instead of Tennessee State cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.
Until Wednesday, the scouting reports on Rivers were mixed. Some rated him as a top-10 prospect, others as a late first-rounder. This week, he reiterated that he’s the best athlete available at his position.
And that’s one thing we’ve always known about the Saints — they love that best athlete available.
The Saints made predicting their selection harder to gauge by filling all of their most glaring needs in free agency. They added two linebackers (Jonathan Vilma and Dan Morgan), a pass-rushing defensive end (Bobby McCray) and a cornerback (Randall Gay), leaving all of their options open for the draft.
Rivers projects as a weakside linebacker in the NFL, but we don’t think Morgan or incumbent Scott Shanle will keep the Saints from drafting Rivers. Having too many good linebackers has never been the problem in New Orleans. And Rivers showed his versatility at the Senior Bowl by playing all three linebacker positions.
We were tempted to go with Rodgers-Cromartie, a raw but sensational talent who has been shooting up draft boards after dazzling performances at the Senior Bowl and the combine. The Saints have always loved those high-upside developmental projects.
But we think they’ll go with the known commodity this time. Rivers (6 feet 2, 241 pounds) was recruited to USC by new Saints defensive line coach Ed Orgeron. So was Ellis. In fact, Orgeron helped conduct Ellis’ position drills earlier this week.
Rivers is not only a tremendous athlete but a proven leader. He was a three-year starter for the Trojans and wore No. 55, which has traditionally been reserved for elite USC linebackers such as Willie McGinest, Junior Seau and Chris Claiborne.
Rivers finished his college career with 240 tackles (18.5 for loss), three sacks and two interceptions.
He has a great combination of strength, speed and instincts. The only knock on him is that he needs to develop more lower-body strength so he can’t be overpowered by blockers.
OTHER POSSIBILITIES: Defensive tackle is probably the Saints’ biggest need. They need to get younger and more explosive up the middle. So you can’t rule out a trade to move up and grab either Ellis or LSU’s Glenn Dorsey. The problem is that both of those guys could go in the top five, so a trade might be too costly.
– A trade down wouldn’t be surprising either. The Philadelphia Eagles might be willing to trade cornerback Lito Sheppard to move up in the draft. Sheppard would be a nice fit in New Orleans. Perhaps the Saints could swap first-round picks with the Eagles, who pick 19th. Maybe the price would be even lower.
Remember, the Saints added two valuable veterans in 2006 with similar trades — center Jeff Faine and defensive tackle Hollis Thomas.
– Rodgers-Cromartie is one of four cornerbacks who might be worth the No. 10 pick. Troy’s Leodis McKelvin is another sensational athlete who also is the best return man in the draft. We think he’ll go in the top 10 before the Saints get a crack at him. The others are Kansas’ Aqib Talib and South Florida’s Mike Jenkins, who were more consistent against a higher level of talent in college.
It would be difficult for the Saints to pass up on one of these guys if they have a high enough grade on their draft board. Cornerback has been the team’s most deficient position for the past three years. But then again, it’s a deep draft for corners. The Saints could get a crack at Arizona’s Antoine Cason or Virginia Tech’s Brandon Flowers with their second-round pick (No. 40 overall).
— Another name to consider in the second round is Purdue tight end Dustin Keller. The fast-rising prospect is the kind of offensive weapon the Saints have been looking for since Coach Sean Payton arrived. And the Saints have a lot of ties to Purdue (through vice president of player personnel Rick Mueller and quarterback Drew Brees).
– We wouldn’t completely rule out the idea of the Saints taking an offensive player with their first-round pick, but we don’t see a lot of names that make sense. Some projections have New Orleans taking Illinois tailback Rashard Mendenhall, but we don’t buy it. The Saints might take a tailback in this year’s draft as an eventual replacement for Deuce McAllister. But at No. 10 overall, we don’t think Mendenhall fills their biggest need, and we don’t think he’s the best player available.
The same thing goes for the receivers in this year’s draft. None of them will be the best player available at No. 10, and it’s not the Saints’ biggest need.
This draft is loaded with top-tier offensive linemen, such as tackles Jake Long (Michigan), Ryan Clady (Boise State), Chris Williams (Vanderbilt), Jeff Otah (Pittsburgh) and guard Branden Albert (Virginia). We consider all of those guys long shots to wind up in New Orleans, though.
SCHEDULED VISITS: The Saints go into super-secret mode around the draft, so they don’t announce prospects who come into town for visits. But according to league sources and reports from around the league, the following players have either met with the Saints or are scheduled to in the coming weeks: Ellis, McKelvin, Flowers, Ohio State defensive end Vernon Gholston, Auburn defensive end Quentin Groves and Tulane tailback Matt Forté.
NFL teams are allowed to bring up to 30 prospects for pre-draft visits. And a lot of times, teams don’t even bring in the players they covet for visits — either because they already know enough about them or because they want to throw other teams off the scent. Rivers, for example, is not scheduled to visit New Orleans.
Forté, who is scheduled to work out with the Saints this week, has worked out for Cincinnati and Chicago, and he is also scheduled to visit San Diego this week.
WORTH NOTING: For the second consecutive year, Saints receiver Marques Colston and guard Jahri Evans received a bonus from the NFL’s Performance-Based Pay program. Evans received $266,677 on top of his 2007 salary of $360,000. Colston received $257,894 in addition to his salary of $360,000. The money comes out of a pool set aside to supplement the income for the league’s lower-paid players. It is awarded based on playing time. . . . As expected, the Saints did not receive any compensatory draft picks in 2008. The picks are awarded to teams that lose more high-quality free agents than they acquired the previous year.
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