By Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune

March 10, 2010, 1:38PM

I just checked in with New Orleans Saints free agent safety Darren Sharper, who said he expects to be ready to hit the road for some potential visits with other teams within a week or so, as soon as he’s recovered enough from his recent minor knee surgery to move around on it and fly.

Sharper hasn’t ruled out a return to the Saints, but he did admit that if the Saints had shown him enough love with their early contract offers, he wouldn’t be a free agent right now.

Read the rest of the story here.

By Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune

March 09, 2010, 6:47AM

Darren Sharper walked the red carpet on a pair of crutches before the Super Bowl XLIV Champions DVD premiere screening Monday night at the Prytania Theatre, offering a clue as to why the New Orleans Saints’ free agent safety hasn’t taken any trips yet to visit any prospective new NFL employers.

Sharper said he had a minor “clean-up” procedure performed on his left knee last week by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., which shouldn’t keep him off his feet long. But it has kept him from boarding any planes.

League sources indicated that Sharper has postponed at least two free agent visits over the past few days, which could drag out his courtship process by a week or two.

Read the rest of the story here.

By James Varney, The Times-Picayune

March 07, 2010, 5:00PM

Saints linebacker Scott Fujita, a key member of the team’s defense since the arrival of head coach Sean Payton, has reportedly signed a mutli-year contract with the Cleveland Browns.

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By Dave Walker, The Times-Picayune

March 07, 2010, 10:29AM

It’s still hard, isn’t it, to think about anything but hittin’ that fleur-de-lis?

In so many words, those words were Sean Payton’s final instructions to Garrett Hartley before the New Orleans Saints kicker won the NFC Championship game and A) sent his team to the Super Bowl and B) the team’s city into a state of weeks-long bliss.

Payton was referring to an iconic emblem on a Superdome wall, high and dead-center behind the goalposts.

A NFL Films microphone captured a moment both salty (Payton slips an attention-focusing profanity between de and lis, neatly excised from the online versions of the clip) and heartwarming.

“Just hit your kick though, son,” Payton says as he sends Hartley onto the field. “Here’s why: You deserve to be here.”

Rest of the story here.

By Jeff Duncan, The Times-Picayune

March 07, 2010, 6:25AM

Here’s another reason why New Orleans Saints fans should love Drew Brees: He’s even a positive factor during free agency.

Michael DeMocker/The Times-Picayune

Not only does nearly every player in the league want to play with the Saints’ Super Bowl MVP quarterback, but his brilliance also keeps rival teams from raiding the Saints’ roster for free agents.

How so?

NFL scouts will tell you that Saints offensive players are among the most difficult in the league to evaluate.

It’s tough to gauge their abilities because the Saints’ offense is so prolific with Brees under center it’s hard to determine just how good the players are running it.

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By James Varney, The Times-Picayune

March 07, 2010, 7:56AM

When the NFL owners gather in Orlando, Fla., next week for their annual meeting, the biggest topic of discussion is arguably what will happen next year.

The league’s collective bargaining agreement is slated to expire one year from now. As is common early in labor negotiations, both sides – owners and players – are taking hard-line stances couched in placating tones. But with talks typically not beginning in earnest until the 11th hour on these sort of mammoth deals, experts said each side needs to get its fallback positions in order soon lest professional football vanish for some time in 2011.

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By Bob Marshall, The Times-Picayune

March 07, 2010, 5:34AM

This column was going to be about why Scott Fujita, New Orleans Saints linebacker, is a great role model for local football fans. But upon further review, I had to change that call.

Now it’s: Scott Fujita, New Orleans resident, is a great role model for all New Orleanians.

The reason I’m putting him on a pedestal is not because of his work on the football field, but because of what he has chosen to do as a citizen with the rewards of that labor.

Fujita has decided to donate half of his $82,000 in NFL playoff earnings to two causes, one of which is coastal restoration.

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By Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune

March 06, 2010, 1:26AM

The New Orleans Saints locked up one of their veteran safeties on the first day of free agency Friday, but not the one that everyone’s been wondering about.

The Super Bowl champs re-signed backup Pierson Prioleau to a one-year deal, their first signing of the 2010 season, while fellow safety Darren Sharper and outside linebacker Scott Fujita remain unsigned on the open market.

The Saints have had positive discussions with both Sharper and Fujita, according to league sources. But both veteran starters have also been shopping elsewhere.

Read the rest of the story here.

By Bruce Alpert, Times-Picayune

March 04, 2010, 6:43PM

A House resolution hailing the New Orleans Saints‘ first Super Bowl victory brought together Democrats, Republicans and Indianapolis Colts fans Thursday.

But not everyone.

The resolution, honoring the Who Dat Nation’s 31-17 victory in Super Bowl XLIV, passed 375-1. The one negative vote was cast by Rep. Tim Johnson, R-Ill.

“He’s a huge Colts fan,” said Johnson spokesman Phil Bloomer, explaining that his east-central Illinois district is much closer to Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium than the Chicago Bears’ Soldier Field.

Is Johnson afraid of being labeled a sore loser? “He takes his football very seriously,” Bloomer said.

Read the rest of the story here.