Saints RB Thomas is still negotiating contract with team

An ESPN reports released last Friday said that the New Orleans Saints running back Pierre Thomas could not receive a new contract as soon as expected, because he was not taken indispensible by team. However, this week another reports from the New Orleans Times argued that the talk is still going on and Thomas will stay in his New Orleans Saints jersey with a new contract.

The ESPN report said that Thomas was asking for a lucrative contract that matches what Steven Jackson received from the St. Louis Rams. The reporter made a comparison between the two running backs, citing that Jackson averaged 25 touches per game while Thomas averaged at only 13.3. He also wrote that Thomas was not so vital to Saints’ offense and received only a second-round tender offer from the team; therefore in conclusion, the reporter believed that the Saints would not give Thomas a significant deal.

Well, the latest report said that Thomas, as a part of the three-tailback rotation, gave an excellent performance despite his limited role and ranked third in term of total carries in 2009. The only better two running backs are Jamaal Charles and Chris Johnson. Besides, since Mike Bell has left the Saints, Thomas would see significant increase in playing time and would be even more important to the defending champion team, so Saints will take the deal with Thomas as a priority.

Dolphins QB Pennington could join Saints for backup job

The Miami Dolphins currently have four quarterbacks on roster, with Chad Henne to be starter, Tyler Thigpen to be No.2 and Pat White to the third, their oldest and highest-paid quarterback Chad Pennington could hardly get much playing time when the 2010 season begins. Therefore, some New Orleans Saints fans wonder whether the veteran quarterback could join the defending champion to back up Drew Brees.

The eleven-year veteran Pennington is taken to resemble Brees in intelligence, accuracy and arm strength. He would also be a good fit in Sean Payton’s offense system and is believed to be able to take fit in perfectly if Brees goes down during a game. Besides, if putting on New Orleans Saints jersey, Pennington could be the No. 2 role in the team instead of the number third or fourth in Dolphins, and playing for the defending champion could lead to his first Super Bowl appearance in his entire NFL career.

However, the addition of Pennington to the Saints could not happen soon or even just won’t happen as the veteran’s salary is much higher than other backup quarterbacks. Although the Dolphins do not seem like to keep the 34-year old quarterback for long, they may still want a good reward if any team makes a trade offer. On that point, the Saints could quit the bid as the team has a tradition of giving low investment on backup players.

Other Saints should learn a lot from Jahri Evans

After the New Orleans Saints signed a seven-year contract worth $56.7 million with fifth-year guard Jahri Evans, there have been a lot of discussions on the big deal. The topics may be different, but the consensus is that Evans deserves the money and confidence given by the Saints.

Since being drafted by the Saints as a fourth-round pick in 2006, Evans has always been doing his best as a starter at his position. We seldom hear complaints from him, and talk little about him while focusing on other higher-profile star players in Saints jerseys like Drew Brees and Darren Sharper. Now it turns out that the silent guy gets the highest pay, and Saints’ move clearly sends a message to other players who are asking for more money or planning to sign with new team: do your best, to be the best, and you will get what you deserve to have. Look at Evans, he just let his playing talk for him during the past four years and he is the example player every team likes to have.

We can sit here and say that Evans is likely to get through the next seven years before getting another extension and then retire as a whole-life Saints player and local fans’ favorite player. If other free agents like Pierre Thomas could also do the same, they will finally get what they want, too.

Returning Sharper will make even less money than last season

It seemed the microfracture knee surgery Darren Sharper had in early offseason had caused a lot of concerns among the NFL teams showing interests in the unrestricted free agent. As a result, Sharper, who used to ask for a $5 million pay to match his performance, had to wear back the Saints jersey on a one-year contract that will pay him even less than the old contract.

According to latest reports, the Saints will only have to Sharper $75,000 in signing bonus, $1.5 million in base salary and additional 1 million in roster bonus. With the roster bonus usually being avoided by teams, what Sharper can earn in 2010 season is even less than the $1.7 million he received from the contract he signed with the Saints in 2009 offseason. It’s really time for him think about his age and health condition before asking for a high pay.

Earlier reports also said that there were several elite teams holding interests in Sharper, but only the Jacksonville Jaguars actually made an offer that was not attractive enough to keep Sharper. Therefore as we see now, he is back with the Saints, with confidence in having another solid season to prove he was undervalued by all the teams.

Sean Payton talked about coaching Saints on TV show

As the head coach of the Super Bowl XLIV champion team New Orleans Saints, Sean Payton was invited to make an appearance on television talk show "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" on Wednesday.

There were indeed quite a few things worth watching or listening as the talk included not only opinions on winning the team’s Super Bowl game, but also Payton’s first thought about coaching the team three years ago and his new book, "Home Team: Coaching the Saints and New Orleans Back to Life."

According to what was said by Payton, he did not quite like to accept the coach job with the Saints, as the New Orleans city was just devastated by the storm Katrina in 2006. He was still waiting for a response from the Green Bay Packers as he just finished an interview with them. Fortunately, he finally chose to stay and eventually led the team to its prime time. Now he is a highly respectable coach who led the players in Saints jerseys to a historical victory, life in New Orleans turns out to be quite enjoyable.

Payton also talked about the charitable foundation Play it Forward, which was founded by him two years ago with the purpose to help people with less fortune. As for his book, Payton revealed that it would be available by June 29th.

Saints are trying to claim their rights to “Who Dat?”

Since last season’s victory in the Super Bowl XLIV over the Indianapolis Colts, the champion team New Orleans Saints have been in a court fight against a local recording company for the rights “Who Dat?”, which is a popular cheer of Saints fans and often appear on the Saints jerseys there wear while watching games.

According to recent reports, Who Dat? Inc., owned by Brothers Sal and Steve Monistere, has been selling the local hit since 1983 when they first made a recording of the cheer. After the Saints won the first Super Bowl title in the franchise’s history, who owned the right to the two-word phrase suddenly attracted attention. On March 4th, the company filed a suit in U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge to claim trademark rights to it and asked for compensation from the team that has been represented by the phrase.

However, NFL Properties and the Saints replied with their understanding of how a company tries to promote their products by getting involved into something related to a famous local franchise. They said on Thursday that the company is simply trying to gain some benefits from Saints’ Super Bowl victory, which caused many fans to buy “Who Dat?” products for celebration.