Ricky Zeller, NewOrleansSaints.com
Saturday, March 01, 2008 – 4:58 PM
The New Orleans Saints have retained an important offensive weapon by agreeing to terms with  WR Devery Henderson it was announced today by Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis. Terms of the contracts for the veteran, who was an Unrestricted Free Agent, was not released.

Henderson has 74 receptions for 1,497 yards and 11 touchdowns since being drafted in the second round out of LSU in 2004. One of the NFL’s fastest players, his receiving average of 20.2 leads the club over that span, and the distance of his 11 career touchdown catches have averaged 36.2 yards.

Henderson has played in 44 games with 19 starts since joining the Saints, and has 10 grabs of 45 yards or more. He led the NFL in 2006 with an average of 23.3 yards per catch, and his five TD grabs that season averaged 48.2 yards. In 2007, Henderson hauled in 20 passes for 403 yards (20.5 avg.) with three touchdowns. He added the fourth 100-yard performance of his career with four catches for 101 yards, including a 54-yard reception, vs. Carolina, Oct. 7.

Ricky Zeller and Doug Miller, NewOrleansSaints.com
Friday, February 29, 2008 – 5:27 PM

The New Orleans Saints have agreed to terms with LB Mark Simoneau and DT Brian Young, it was announced today by Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis. Terms of the contracts for the two veterans were not released.

Simoneau and Young each agreed to terms Thursday evening, hours before they entered the NFL’s open market as Unrestricted Free Agents.

“We’ve always taken a proactive approach when it comes to signing the players we want back before they enter free agency,” said Loomis. “Both Mark and Brian are excellent, hard-working players who have proven to be key contributors on our defense.”

Simoneau joined the Saints after a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles in August of 2006 and has since started 30 of 32 games at middle linebacker. He has recorded 170 tackles (102 solo), three sacks, an interception and knocked down a pair of passes with New Orleans. Entering his ninth season in 2008, last year Simoneau ranked second on the club with 97 stops, the second-highest total of his career. He’s also been a key addition on special teams.

Young was originally signed by the Saints as an Unrestricted Free Agent in 2004 after a four-year stint with the St. Louis Rams, and has been one of the club’s most consistent performers since his arrival. He has opened 55 of 56 games in New Orleans and posted 250 tackles (135 solo), 11 sacks, a pair of fumble recoveries and a forced fumble.

Prior to 2007, Young had started all 47 games he had played for the Saints. Last season, he appeared in nine games, opening eight, missing a four-game stretch with an injured knee before being placed on injured reserve late in the year with pneumonia. Young enters his eighth season in 2008.

The Saints also announced today that they hosted two unrestricted free agent players today at the team’s Airline Drive headquarters in Metairie. The two veteran players were DE Bobby McCray and CB Aaron Glenn.

McCray, a 6-6, 262-pound defensive end, was one of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ starting defensive ends the past two seasons and ranks tied for seventh in franchise history with DT Marcus Stroud in sacks (22). A seventh-round pick out of the University of Florida by Jacksonville in 2004, he has played in 61 regular season games during his four-year career and recorded 94 tackles, 22 sacks and seven forced fumbles. The 26-year old native of Homestead, Fla. registered a career-high 10 sacks in 2006.

Glenn, a 5-9, 183-pound first-round draft choice of the New York Jets in 1994 out of Texas A&M, is a 14-year veteran cornerback who has played for the Jets (1994-2001), Houston Texans (2002-2004), Dallas Cowboys (2005-2006) and most recently with the Jacksonville Jaguars (2007). He has accumulated 633 career tackles, 41 career interceptions for 560 yards and six touchdowns via interception returns. Glenn, 35, ranks fifth among active interception leaders in the NFL, trailing only the Minnesota Vikings’ Darren Sharper (53), former Kansas City Chief Ty Law (52), Jacksonville Jaguars Sammy Knight and Denver Broncos Champ Bailey (42 each). Glenn is one of 23 players in NFL history to have returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the same game, a feat he accomplished in 2002.

Doug Miller, NewOrleansSaints.com

Friday, February 29, 2008 – 1:32 PM

The New Orleans Saints announced today that they have acquired middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma from the New York Jets in exchange for an undisclosed draft choice. The announcement of Vilma’s acquisition was made by Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis.

Vilma, 25, was selected by the Jets with the 12th pick overall (first round) in the 2004 NFL Draft and earned the Associated Press NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honor for his 118-tackle, three-interception, two-sack season. The 6-1, 230-pound graduate of the University of Miami has started every regular season game (55) but two that he has played over the past four seasons while with the Jets (2004-2007), as well as starting all three playoff games he appeared in while a member of the Jets.

“We are pleased to announce the acquisition of Jonathan,” said Loomis. “He has been a player that has performed at a very high level quickly in his career and takes the game very seriously and is passionate about his profession. We spent time with him before the draft in 2004 and once again once the Jets made it known that he could pursue other opportunities. In talking with people that are familiar with him, it is clear that he is serious and passionate about the game, that winning is something that is extremely important to him and he has leadership skills that he backs up with his play on the field. We are aware and comfortable with his progress in returning from the injury that sidelined him for the second half of the 2007 season. We’ve consulted with our medical staff and spent time investigating the particulars surrounding the injury and we’re confident that he will return to the standard of play that he set through the first three-and-a-half years of his career.”

“I am very happy to be joining the Saints’ organization,” Vilma said. “I enjoyed my four seasons with the Jets and thank them for the opportunities they gave me. But this represents a new chapter in my football career and in my life and I am truly excited and fortunate to be joining a team that just a little over a year ago was one win away from appearing in the Super Bowl. People that I know have all told me that New Orleans is a great place to play, and the fans are passionate and rally around their team. I am eager to meet my new teammates and get involved with the community efforts that face New Orleans.”

The native of Coral Gables, Fla. has accumulated 460 total tackles (312 solo, 148 assists), 14 passes defensed, six interceptions returned for 60 yards (including an interception returned for a touchdown in 2004), five forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries (16 return yards) and two-and-a-half sacks during regular season play. In three postseason contests, the former two-time Butkus Award finalist has started three games and registered 36 stops (20 solo), along with a sack during his career. Vilma has recorded 18 games with double-digit tackles, including a career-high 18 stops at Denver on Nov. 18, 2005.

Vilma became the first Jets defender since former LB Kyle Clifton (1984-1986) to begin his career with three consecutive 100-tackle seasons: posting seasonal tackle totals of 118 (2004), a career-high 187 (2005) and 116 (2006), before the 100-tackle streak was halted in 2007 after a knee injury ended his 2007 season after the first seven games.
As a collegian at Miami, Vilma played in 47 games for the Hurricanes, making 37 starts, and recorded 371 tackles (234 solo stops), 30 tackles for losses, seven fumble recoveries, four forced fumbles, 12 passes defensed and one interception. Along with his success on the field, Vilma was a three-time Academic All-Big East Conference honoree. He received a degree in finance from the University of Miami’s School of Business Administration. Vilma, fluent in German and French, also is conversant in Spanish and cited his desire to learn the various foreign languages as preparation for a possible career in the medical field as a youngster.

Chargers President Dean Spanos said he was “cautiously optimistic” that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will announce next week that the Chargers will play a 2008 regular-season game in London, England.  The game, which would be only the second regular-season game ever played outside of North America, would be against one of the Chargers’ road opponents.

“The Commissioner and I talked about two and half months ago and we talked again as recently as last week,” said Spanos, a member of the NFL’s International Committee.  “Should this occur, we would welcome the opportunity.”

“This would be a positive announcement in a number of ways.  First, it shows that the Chargers clearly have become one of the NFL’s marquee franchises; a team with a strong following that the League is proud of.  Second, it would be good exposure for our organization, for the players and for the city of San Diego.  And finally, I believe it would give the team added experience from playing in another big game.”

Last season the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins played in London in Week 8.  The Giants won the game, 13-10, and both teams had their off weekend following that game.  The Giants now find themselves playing in Super Bowl XLII.

In recent years, the Chargers have played three games overseas, though they were all preseason games.  The Chargers played the Giants in Berlin, Germany in 1994; the Pittsburgh Steelers in Tokyo, Japan in 1996, and the Denver Broncos in Sydney, Australia in 1999.  At the end of the 1994 season, the Chargers played in Super Bowl XXIX in Miami.

Though the entire NFL schedule is not expected to be announced until April, it’s anticipated that the game in London would take place in Week 8 (Oct. 26) and the participants would have a bye in Week 9.

Head Coach Norv Turner took a more pragmatic approach.

“It would be a good experience for our team and our players,” said the veteran coach who was part of the Dallas Cowboys staff when they played in London in 1993, “but we’ll just play the schedule they give us.  No matter where the game is, we’ll prepare as we always do and be ready to play.”

NewOrleansSaints.com, NewOrleansSaints.com
Monday, January 28, 2008 – 3:39 PM

The New Orleans Saints have promoted two assistant coaches – Greg McMahon to special teams coordinator and Dennis Allen to secondary coach – it was announced today by Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis. Both McMahon and Allen joined the Saints with Coach Sean Payton’s original staff in 2006.

McMahon has been the assistant special teams coach since arriving in New Orleans, which followed a lengthy stretch in the college ranks where he earned a reputation as one of the nation’s top special teams coaches. He came to the Saints after a one-year stint at East Carolina. Prior to 2005, McMahon spent 13 years at the University of Illinois. From 2001-04, Illinois blocked 16 kicks and his special teams units accounted for nine touchdowns. Players under his guidance include the school’s leaders in punting average, single-season scoring and punt return yardage.

McMahon replaces John Bonamego, who has departed to become special teams coordinator of the Miami Dolphins.

Allen enters his third season in New Orleans after serving his first two years as assistant defensive line coach. He has been instrumental over the last two years in the club’s front four becoming one of the defense’s strengths, including posting 49.5 sacks since the start of the 2006 season. Allen joined the Saints after a four-year stint with the Atlanta Falcons. His final two years were as defensive assistant/quality control, with an emphasis on working with the defensive line, and in his first two seasons Allen helped tutor the secondary.

Allen – who was the secondary coach at Tulsa from 2000-01 before heading to the NFL – earned four letters at Texas A&M as a safety (1992-95), starting the final 21 games of his career. Allen replaces Tom Hayes on the Saints’ coaching staff.

(SO HOW ARE WE GOING TO DO?)

The official 2008 schedule, with playing dates and times, will be announced in the spring.

NFL Kickoff 2008 Weekend will begin on Thursday night, September 4, and the regular season will conclude on December 28.

Wild Card Weekend will be Saturday and Sunday, January 3-4; Divisional Playoff games on the weekend of January 10-11; and the AFC and NFC Championship Games on Sunday, January 18.

Super Bowl XLIII at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida will be played on Sunday, February 1.

New Orleans Saints Home: Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers

Away: Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Washington Redskins, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs

Doug Miller, NewOrleansSaints.com
Sunday, December 30, 2007 – 3:25 PM
Chicago – On the same field where the New Orleans Saints’ 2006 season came to an end, so to did their 2007 season. On a gray winter day one day shy of the New Year, the Saints fell to the Chicago Bears, 33-25.

“This was a very disappointing loss for us,” said Head Coach Sean Payton. “The things that kept us from winning, turnovers and penalties, came up today and during the season.”

“Chicago was the better team today and responded each time we got back in the game,” said Payton. “Give them credit. Nobody in this locker room feels good about 7-9. We have a lot of work to do (in the off-season) and we will get started right away.”

The Saints, who needed a win and help by Dallas and Denver in the later games, instead fell victim to three costly turnovers and the big-play skills of Devin Hester, who caught a 55-yard touchdown pass and returned a punt 64-yards for a touchdown early in the third quarter.

New Orleans received a huge day from rookie RB Pierre Thomas, who became the first Saints player to rush for over 100-yards and eclipse the 100-yard receiving mark in the same game. Thomas, with 105 yards on the ground and 121 yards on 12 receptions, racked up the third-highest yards from scrimmage total in team history (226 yards). The Saints’ team record is 237 yards, held by Deuce McAllister.

“I thought Pierre ran the ball and caught it very well today,” said Payton. “He finished a lot of runs and he played lights out.”

QB Drew Brees completed 35-of-60 passes for 320 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions, but was sacked 3 times. WR Marques Colston had 8 receptions for 94 yards in the first half, but was forced out of the game with a wrist injury suffered late in the second quarter.

The Bears took advantage of an early interception by MLB Brian Urlacher in Saints territory and took an early 3-0 lead and then extended the lead to 10-0 before the Saints could rally and close the margin to 10-7 early in the second quarter. However after the Saints closed the gap at 10-7, the Bears struck right back with a 7-play, 63-yard drive in 3:38, capped off by a 9-yard touchdown pass from QB Kyle Orton to WR Bernard Berrian.

Saints WR Marques Colston caught his second touchdown of the afternoon with just over two minutes remaining in the first half to close the Bears lead to 17-14. But Hester struck with a 55-yard reception from Orton two plays later and extended the Bears lead once again to a two-touchdown advantage (24-14).

A wacky series ended the first half, as a Brees pass was intercepted by CB Charles Tillman at the Bears goal line. Tillman attempted to return the ball, though, and was stripped of the ball by Pierre Thomas and the loose ball was recovered by Lance Moore with :02 left. K Martin Gramatica hit a 48-yard field goal as time expired and the Saints had climbed back to within a touchdown, 24-17.

The Saints took the second half kickoff but started at their own 15 yard-line and went three plays and out. P Steve Weatherford, who had kept the ball away from Hester with pinpoint sideline, instead hit a 48 yard punt down the middle of the field that was returned 64 yards for a touchdown by Hester for the score, and following Robbie Gould’s extra point, the Bears again had a two touchdown advantage (31-17).

The scoring came to a grinding halt until late in the game when the Bears forced the Saints into a holding penalty in the end zone, which resulted in a safety and upped the lead to 33-17. The Saints came back to score a late touchdown when Pierre Thomas scored on an 11-yard pass from Brees and then scored a two-point conversion on an inside handoff.

The Saints attempted an onside kick but Chicago recovered it.

By BRETT MARTEL,

AP Sports Writer

NEW ORLEANS (AP) If Donovan McNabb keeps playing like this, those fickle Philly fans who have been calling for rookie Kevin Kolb may have to wait.

Running, throwing, and sometimes throwing on the run, McNabb accounted for 300 total yards and tossed three touchdown passes, leading the Philadelphia Eagles to a 38-23 victory Sunday that dealt a devastating blow to a New Orleans squad still clinging to playoff hopes.

“A lot of people ask a lot of questions about Donovan,” said Eagles running back Brian Westbrook, who gained 100 yards on 17 carries. “I’ve said all along, it’s going to take a full year for him to recover and be totally back. You see the way he’s running the ball down the field. He’s rounding back into being his old self and these last two weeks are proof of that.”

The Eagles (7-8) have won two straight, building on their upset of the Cowboys in Dallas a week earlier. Their triumph snapped a two-game winning streak for the Saints (7-8), who would be eliminated from playoff contention if the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Washington Redskins later Sunday night.

McNabb, whose 263 yards passing gave him more than 25,000 for his career, no longer showed the effects of his rehabilitation from knee surgery over the summer or an ankle sprain in midseason.

His 40-yard scramble on the third play led to a bizarre touchdown after his fumble was recovered in the end zone by receiver Kevin Curtis. McNabb also used his scrambling ability to neutralize the Saints’ pass rush and give his receivers more time to get open.

“I think teams now see the progression of me coming off the injury and seeing I’m getting my mobility back,” McNabb said. “I’m definitely feeling better and being able to get opportunities for guys by holding the ball a little bit longer.”

Saints quarterback Drew Brees threw for 289 yards and a touchdown, but lost his best receiver when Marques Colston left the game in the first half with a chest contusion that had him spitting up blood.

Still, the Saints were in position to tie the game at 21 on the opening drive of the second half when David Patten nearly scored on a short first-down pass.

Coach Sean Payton thought Patten had crossed the goal line and challenged the ruling, but the call was upheld, setting up second-and-goal from the 1. The Eagles stuffed New Orleans on three straight running plays to preserve their one-touchdown lead, taking over possession at their own 2.

The running plays seemed like a departure for Payton, who calls a majority of passing plays and never shies away from trickery. Payton said he didn’t want to “get cute,” and Brees agreed.

“Second and goal from the 4-inch line? You should be able to put that one in. We had pounded in there two other times previously and why not again right there?” Brees said. “That was a huge turning point in the game. We score there, we tie it up, and I think it would have been a different ballgame.”

Instead, Philadelphia followed with a 15-play, 98-yard, seven-minute scoring drive that McNabb capped with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Greg Lewis, giving the Eagles a 31-17 lead late in the third quarter.

McNabb also had touchdown passes of 31 yards to Reggie Brown and 7 yards to Curtis. Correll Buckhalter scored the Eagles’ other touchdown on a 20-yard run in the first quarter.

Curtis had six catches for 78 yards, while Brown caught six passes for 73 yards.

Aaron Stecker scored both New Orleans touchdowns on short runs in the first half.

Both teams entered the game with highly ranked run defenses. The Eagles came in fifth in the league, giving up an average of 94.6 yards rushing, and the Saints came in eighth (97.6).

Philadelphia finished with 184 rushing yards, while New Orleans managed only 65, with Stecker gaining 49.

Still, the Saints drove inside Philadelphia’s 30 twice in the fourth quarter. Touchdowns on those possessions could have tied the game, but the Eagles forced Martin Gramatica’s field goals of 35 and 46 yards, leaving New Orleans down 31-23 with 7:19 left.

Philadelphia needed one more scoring drive to put the game away. Buckhalter’s 34-yard kickoff return gave the Eagles the ball at the New Orleans 44. McNabb got them inside the 20 with a 26-yard pass down the sideline to Curtis, then used a short pass to Westbrook to convert on third-and-2. Three plays later, McNabb found Curtis again for the score, which sent fans streaming for the exits with 2:33 to go.

“He looked great today,” Eagles coach Andy Reid said of McNabb. “He ran strong. … He played his heart out both running and throwing the ball. He had great command of the huddle.”

Notes: Saints CB Mike McKenzie left the game with a sprained right knee after he narrowly missed recovering McNabb’s fumble on the Eagles’ first TD of the game. … Eagles S Brian Dawkins left the game with what team officials termed a right foot injury. He’s scheduled for an MRI on Monday. … Eagles LB Omar Gaither left the game with a quad contusion. … Saints reserve running back Jamaal Branch broke his leg on a special teams play.

No Saints players were named to the 2008 Pro Bowl roster on Tuesday, the first time they’ve been shut out of the postseason all-star game since 1980.

The Saints had a handful of worthy candidates, like quarterback Drew Brees, receiver Marques Colston and defensive end Will Smith. But none of them made the cut.

Brees landed behind quarterbacks Brett Favre, Tony Romo and Matt Hasselbeck in the voting, which was conducted by players, coaches and fans. Colston lost out to Terrell Owens, Larry Fitzgerald, Donald Driver and Torry Holt.

Last year, the Saints earned three invitations to the Pro Bowl – Brees, Smith and offensive tackle Jammal Brown.

Posted by Mike Triplett, Times-Picayune staff writer December 18, 2007 3:38PM

New Orleans, La. – The New Orleans Saints defeated the Arizona Cardinals, 31-24, behind the pin-point passing day of Drew Brees a powerful rushing attack led by Aaron Stecker and two big defensive plays. With the victory, the Saints improved their record to 7-7 and pulled within a half game of the Minnesota Vikings (7-6) for the second wild card spot in the NFC.

Brees completed 26-of-30 passes for 315 yards and two touchdowns for a completion percentage of nearly 87%, and Stecker gained 95 yards on 22 carries for a 4.3 average and two touchdown runs to pace the Saints, winners of three-of-the-last 4 games.

“Collectively we felt that this was going to be tough opponent and we all felt that this was going to be a really hard fought game,” said Head Coach Sean Payton. “I give a lot of credit to Arizona. The game came down to the last possession.”

by Doug Miller, NewOrleansSaints.com