Members of the New Orleans Saints football team, such as Jimmy Graham and Drew Brees, have generously donated several signed pieces of memorabilia to help benefit the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) in an auction on eBay. In the wake of the recent events at Penn State University, they donated these items to support the #ProudPSUforRAINN campaign in effort to help prevent and treat victims of sexual abuse.

The auction items include a jersey signed by running back, Mark Ingram, footballs signed by the team’s wide receivers and running backs, a pair of cleats signed by quarterback, Drew Brees, as well as several other valuable pieces. These items are currently available on eBay until this Sunday, January 22 at 4p.m., PST. 100% of the proceeds will benefit RAINN. Below is a link to all of the items being auctioned:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/officialrainnauctions/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686

The New Orleans Saints have agreed to terms with Steve Spagnuolo as their new defensive coordinator Thursday, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen.

This is a big victory for the Saints because I’m pretty sure Spagnuolo is the guy Sean Payton had targeted for this job, probably even before previous coordinator Gregg Williams left for St. Louis and a reunion with Jeff Fisher after the Saints lost in the playoffs.

If you want a picture of a Spagnuolo defense, don’t think too much about the St. Louis team he had been the head coach of since 2009.

Read more of Pat’s story here.

The New Orleans Saints have decided to hire former St. Louis Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo as the team’s next defensive coordinator, Fox’s Jay Glazer reported Thursday afternoon. Prior to coaching the Rams for the three seasons Spagnuolo was the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants.

Read more here.

A lot can change between now and the start of free agency and I sure don’t see any way the New Orleans Saints let quarterback/King Drew Brees walk away. I also think there’s a pretty good chance tight end Tony Gonzalez can return to the Atlanta Falcons if he chooses. Same for cornerback Ronde Barber with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and maybe even Jeremy Shockey with the Carolina Panthers.

But all we know about those guys at the moment is they’re not under contract for 2012. We’ll do much more on free agency as it gets closer but I’ve got the complete list of every NFC South player presently not under contract for 2012.

I’ll list them by team here and we’ll only go with the guys who have at least four years of service and can become unrestricted free agents. We’ll deal with restricted and exclusive-rights free agents at another time.

New Orleans Saints: John Kasay, kicker; Drew Brees, quarterback; Shaun Rogers, defensive tackle; John Gilmore, tight end; Aubrayo Franklin, defensive tackle; Marques Colston, receiver; Pat McQuistan, offensive line; Courtney Roby, receiver; Leigh Torrence, cornerback; Jeff Charleston, defensive end; Turk McBride, defensive end; Robert Meachem, receiver; Jo-Lonn Dunbar, linebacker; Carl Nicks, guard; Tracy Porter, cornerback.

Read more here.

By Pat Yasinskas

During the Countdown Live chat throughout Saturday’s playoff game between New Orleans and San Francisco, many of you were wondering why the hit on Saints running back Pierre Thomas by 49ers defensive back Donte Whitner didn’t result in a penalty.

Thomas

It was clearly a helmet-to-helmet hit. The play came deep in San Francisco territory in the first quarter. Thomas fumbled the ball as soon as he was hit and the 49ers recovered.

Read more about the hit here.

Now that the season officially is over for all four NFC South teams, we can start looking ahead to the 2012 draft.

Take a look at this Insider post by Steve Muench, which talks about two undersized quarterbacks — Boise State’s Kellen Moore and Wisconsin’s Russell Wilson. Both are listed at just a shade under 6-foot.

Any time you talk about undersized quarterbacks, you have to start with New Orleans’ Drew Brees, because he has proven that you don’t have to be 6-4 or 6-5 to succeed. Brees is listed right at 6-foot, and that might be a bit generous.

But Brees is a perfect fit in coach Sean Payton’s offensive scheme. The Saints obviously don’t believe you need a tall quarterback, because backup Chase Daniel also is listed at 6-foot.

Read more of Pat’s story here

Former New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has agreed to join the St. Louis Rams, according to the NFL Network’s Jason La Canfora. The St. Louis Dispatch also confirmed that Williams has agreed to join the Rams.

Scott Threlkeld/The Times-PicayuneNew Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams

The move has been anticipated in recent weeks, since Williams’ contract was set to expire with the Saints and his close friend Jeff Fisher was hired as the Rams’ head coach.

Read the rest of the story here.