John DeShazier, The Times-Picayune

Yes, Pierre Thomas deserves a long-term, more lucrative contract.

Yes, the New Orleans Saints are within their right to have Thomas right where they have him.

Yes, they’re both right.

Sometimes it’s not that easy to find a bad guy. Sometimes there’s no way to not see and agree with where each side is coming from, and why it maintains its stance.

If I’m Thomas, damn straight I’d want to have been paid plenty, yesterday. For sure I’d believe I’ve earned more than the one-year, $1.7 million deal he signed with the Saints this summer as a restricted free agent. That’s a point even the franchise probably won’t dispute.

Read the rest of the story here.

By Pat Yasinskas

METAIRIE, La. – Time for some observations from the New Orleans Saints’ first practice of camp.

• Rookie cornerback Patrick Robinson got his contract signed, passed his physical and got on the field for a good chunk of practice. I’m not going to anoint him after one practice, but he looked good out there. Extremely athletic, and I can see him immediately being the third corner behind Jabari Greer and Tracy Porter. By the way, Robinson doesn’t seem to have the same problem with hazing as Dallas rookie Dez Bryant. Robinson walked off the field carrying the shoulder pads and helmets of some veteran members of the secondary.
• Jon Gruden was out at practice, and I think this is a repeat of last year. That’s when Gruden spent a few days with his old buddy Sean Payton and sat in on the meetings with the quarterbacks. Coaches are often superstitious, and Payton might view Gruden as a good-luck charm.

Read the rest of the story here.

Kevin Spain, The Times-Picayune

As reporter earlier, receiver Lance Moore was the star of the New Orleans Saints morning workouts.

Moore said after practice that having a good showing wasn’t an option.

“I didn’t have a choice but to step up,” Moore said. “I don’t want to be the forgotten guy. I don’t want to be someone who gets lost in the rotation.”

Moore has a chance to get attention with Marques Colston and Robert Meachem missing time on the physically unable to perform list.

Read the rest of the story here.

James Varney, The Times-Picayune

Rookie tight end Jimmy Graham, a third round pick out of Miami, made the top play of the New Orleans Saints afternoon practice Friday, a spectacular one-handed grab with a defender draped all over him.

The Saints were going 11-on-11 in first down situations when quarterback Drew Brees threw one straight down the middle to a streaking Graham, who was tightly covered by safety Roman Harper.

Read the rest of the story here.

by Jeff Duncan

The New Orleans Saints announced Thursday the team’s Black & Gold scirmmage will be open to the public on Saturday, Aug. 7, weather permitting.

The annual scrimmage will be held during the team’s workout from 2:50 to 4:20 p.m.

n the event of bad weather, the workout could be moved into the team’s indoor practice facility, which is not large enough to allow public attendance.

Story taken from

History says the Saints, like so many other Super Bowl winners, will fall short in 2010. If it happens, some will say they couldn’t handle success, while others will point to a few critical injuries, and still others will say the division closed the gap. New Orleans has Drew Brees under center, and he will be driven to repeat. As for injuries, the Saints went to the Super Bowl with six starters on injured reserve last year, and they might in fact be a stronger team this season. It’ll be tough to stay hungry, but the early season schedule with a rematch on opening night with the Vikings, a trip to San Francisco and hosting the Falcons should be enough motivation to have a solid camp.

Read the rest here.

Two days before he was to open training camp, New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton stood in the hot south Louisiana sun hoisting boxes of food and personal supplies into a steady stream of vehicles slowly pulling past him in Venice.

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton carries a box of food to a waiting vehicle during a food distribution on Tuesday at the First Baptist Church of Venice. Feed The Children partnered with Payton’s Play It Forward foundation and country singer Sammy Kershaw’s protectourcoastline.org to hand out food and personal items.

For a man who has heard more than his share of cheers since leading the Saints to the Super Bowl championship, Payton was hearing a different kind of appreciation on Tuesday.

“I thought he was a wonderful coach before, now I think he is a wonderful man,” said Catherine Reels, 55. “I think the world of him helping like this.”

Read the rest of the story here.

Jeff Duncan, The Times-Picayune

Susan Shushan of Metairie kisses the Super Bowl ring belonging to New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams inside Nacho Mama’s Mexican Grill in Harahan. Williams has gotten to know the New Orleans area well and says being here has been a great fit, but opportunity appears certain to beckon.

Rested and relaxed, skin bronzed from a summer of golf, he was Tommy Bahama cool as he worked an overflow crowd at a fundraiser for his foundation.

This, of course, won’t last long. Come next Friday when the New Orleans Saints open training camp, he’ll disappear in a phone booth and emerge as the intense, full-metal-jacket hell-raiser Saints fans have come to know and love.

Read the rest of the story here.

Coming Back Stronger, a memoir by New Orleans Saints quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees that released July 6, will debut at No. 3 on the New York Times’ hardcover, nonfiction best sellers list on Sunday, July 25.

According to Nielsen Bookscan, which accounts for about 70 percent of all books sold, it was the top selling hardcover, nonfiction best seller in the country last week.

It also appears on the USA Today best seller list that was released today. That list includes all fiction and non-fiction books, including both hardcover and softcover titles.

To promote the book, Brees appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America, FOX News’s Hannity and On the Record with Greta, as well as dozens of other print and electronic interviews. B

Read the rest of the story here.