New Orleans Saints News & Rumors

Why Chase Daniel Signed With Saints

  • Count the Saints among the clubs that may consider Mixon, as the controversial prospect met with New Orleans today, tweets Nick Underhill of the Advocate. While a number of teams, including New England and Miami have ruled out selecting Mixon due to an assault incident, the Saints are reportedly among the clubs “digging in” on the 20-year-old. In New Orleans, Mixon would pair with Mark Ingram to give the Saints a lethal running back combination.
  • While Chase Daniel had other proposals on the table, the longtime backup chose a reunion with the Saints in part because Drew Brees‘ contract expires after 2017, as Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com writes. “[Brees] could play until he’s 45 if he wanted to,” Daniel said. “And the way his contract is sort of set up, yeah, it’s the last year of his contract, but for me, I’d be crazy to say that didn’t play a little bit into effect to come here, to play behind Drew again, to learn this offense, to get noticed in this offense and to see where it takes me.” Daniel, however, only signed for a single season, as well.

Mauti Expects To Be Ready By Camp

  • Saints coach Sean Payton expects recovering linebacker Michael Mauti to be ready by the time training camp comes, Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com reports. Stricken with an intestinal disease, the 27-year-old linebacker did not play in eight Saints games last season because of it. He remains a UFA, but the Saints have interest in retaining the backup defender. Mauti contemplated having a surgery to fix this years-long problem last spring but opted against since he was going into a contract year. Energy and weight loss led to the Saints placing Mauti on their NFI list in November, and he underwent surgery in December. The team still paid him his full $675K salary last season. Mauti told Katzenstein he wants to continue his career with the Saints.

Saints Worked Out Joshua Dobbs

  • The Chargers, Saints, and Panthers have all worked out Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs, tweets Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com. Los Angeles and New Orleans, specifically, are both hunting for long-term signal-callers as their respective quarterbacks age, and Dobbs — a likely mid-round pick — could be an option for both clubs. A two-year starter for the Volunteers, Dobbs passed for nearly 3,000 yards, 27 touchdowns, and 12 touchdowns in his senior season. Todd McShay of ESPN.com ranks Dobbs as the sixth-best quarterback prospect in 2017.

Drew Brees To Wait Until After Season To Discuss Next Contract

Don’t expect Drew Brees to sign another extension before the season. The 38-year-old Saints quarterback is again entering a contract year but wants to wait until after the season to discuss another deal to stay in New Orleans. Brees said waiting until the end of the year is best for himself and the team, Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com reports. Brees’ one-year extension from 2016 will pay him $24.25MM this season.

The 17th-year quarterback is also not exactly endorsing the Saints taking a signal-caller early. While that may be in the best interest of the franchise post-Brees, the current starter doesn’t want a high draft pick that will sit behind him and not help the team in 2017.

Saints Could Draft Joe Mixon In Round 2

  • At least five teams won’t consider drafting controversial Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon, per Miller, who notes that “many” others “are digging in hard” on the 20-year-old. The Saints are among the latter clubs, with Miller reporting they could reel in Mixon in Round 2 (No. 42). Head coach Sean Payton said earlier this week that the Saints plan to meet with Mixon soon.

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Eagles’ Malcolm Jenkins On Trade Rumors

Earlier this month, the Eagles reportedly offered up Malcolm Jenkins and draft picks to the Saints for Brandin Cooks. Ultimately, Cooks went to the Patriots and top exec Howie Roseman came out swinging against talk that the safety was made available. Now, comments from Jenkins himself seem to confirm that he was in fact being discussed with New Orleans. Malcolm Jenkins (vertical)

His message was that they want me to be an Eagle,” Jenkins said as he recounted a recent conversation with Roseman (via CSNPhilly.com’s Dave Zangaro). “They love what I’m doing on the field, they love what I’m doing in the community and they want me to be a big part of what they do from a long-term standpoint. But at the same time, if somebody is going to offer something ridiculously high for me that he thinks is in the best interest of the team then he would definitely consider, which he would with anybody. And I understand that. So that doesn’t give me any anxiety or any worry.”

Jenkins added that he thinks he would have been involved in the deal, for the right price. Although he’s still playing at a high level, Jenkins will turn 30 in December and he probably shouldn’t be considered an untouchable. It seems like Roseman denied the trade talk in order to avoid things getting awkward for the veteran. Fortunately for him, Jenkins seems to be taking it all in stride.

Jenkins is signed through 2020. He is scheduled to carry cap hits of $7.5MM, $10MM, $9.75MM, and $9.25MM in each of the next four seasons.

Saints To Sign S Rafael Bush

The Saints are signing safety Rafael Bush, according to Nick Underhill of The Advocate (on Twitter). It’s a one-year deal, per a team announcement. This marks a return to New Orleans for Bush after spending the 2016 season with the Lions. "<strong

Heading into Thursday, we had Bush ranked as the sixth-best safety available on the open market. Bush primarily saw time at free safety during his first New Orleans stint, but last year the Lions utilized him at a number of spots in the secondary. All in all, he finished out with 48 tackles, two interceptions, three passes defensed, and his first career sack. He appeared in every regular season contest, including four starts. Bush finished out as the 65th best safety in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics. It was a solid showing after a torn pectoral muscle limited him to only one game in 2015.

Bush now joins a crowded safety depth chart that includes starters Vonn Bell and Kenny Vaccaro plus reserves Robenson Therezie, Chris Banjo, Shiloh Keo, and Erik Harris. Bush now becomes the first “new” secondary player to join the Saints in this calendar year.