- The Saints have added Curtis Johnson (wide receivers) and Brad Banta (special teams) to their coaching staff, relays Mike Triplett of ESPN.com. The hiring of Johnson is no surprise, as there was informed speculation Monday that he’d return to New Orleans after rejecting a contract offer to stay in Chicago. Johnson coached the Saints’ receivers from 2006-11, and newly hired Jets offensive coordinator John Morton‘s exit opened to the door for Johnson to rejoin the club. Banta, who was with the Redskins, will take over a Saints special teams unit that ranked 27th in the league in DVOA this season.
- The Saints have hired Mike Nolan to coach their linebackers, his previous employer, SiriusXM NFL Radio, announced (on Twitter). Nolan coached the Chargers’ linebackers in 2015 and has been a defensive coordinator with seven teams, though he’s best known for an 18-37 run as San Francisco’s head coach from 2005-08.
Here’s a quick look at the NFC:
- Before he was hired as the 49ers‘ new GM, John Lynch did not want his involvement in the search to leak out because he was afraid of league-wide perception, Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com tweets. Had he not been hired, he was worried others would feel he was using his TV gig to land a job with an NFL team. Of course, some in the football world could still be of that opinion. As an ex-player and color commentator with no known ambitions of an executive job, Lynch may have had special access to information on rival teams and players.
- As of this afternoon, the 49ers have not scheduled an interview with ESPN analyst/ex-Bucs GM Mark Dominik, Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter). That doesn’t mean Dominik won’t be a consideration, but it may at least mean that a deal is probably not imminent between the two sides. By the same token, the Niners managed to keep the surprising hire of John Lynch under wraps.
- Saints owner Tom Benson‘s ownership lawsuit is one week away from trial, Katherine Sayre of The Times-Picayune writes. Benson is seeking to remove ownership shares in the Saints (and the NBA’s Pelicans) from trust funds created for his daughter and grandson from back when the family was still on good terms. Ultimately, the trial will not impact control over the teams. Benson maintains control by impact control over the teams.
- Saints general manager Mickey Loomis has a history of trading up in the draft, but the executive told Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com that he doesn’t have a definitive process when it comes to their draft strategy. “I think it depends on how the board falls,” he said. “You just kind of have to pay attention to the players that are still available for you and what players are below them and how are you going to acquire those players.” The Saints traded up twice in last year’s draft to select second-round safety Vonn Bell and fourth-round defensive tackle David Onyemata.
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- Busy retooling their defensive staff, the Saints also interviewed Redskins assistant special teams coach Brad Banta for their special teams coach opening, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets.
- The Saints were interested in hiring former Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley as their linebackers coach if he didn’t secure a defensive coordinator job this year, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Bradley, one of the more respected defensive minds in the league, drew a wide swath of DC interest, as the Redskins, 49ers, and Chargers — who ultimately hired him — all interviewed him for their coordinator position. New Orleans, meanwhile, continues to interview candidates for its LBs coach vacancy.
Here are the latest reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2017 league year, with players joining their respective club’s offseason 90-man rosters:
Denver Broncos
New Orleans Saints
- LS Jesse Schmitt (two-year deal)
New York Giants
- OL Adam Gettis
- OL Michael Bowie
Pittsburgh Steelers
- RB Gus Johnson
- RB Brandon Brown-Dukes
- RB Dreamius Smith
- CB Mike Hilton
- OL Keavon Milton
- OL Matt Feiler
- S Jacob Hagen
- WR Marcus Tucker
- WR Dez Stewart
Last season, another Drew Brees extension loomed as a priority for the Saints, and the sides came to a late-summer agreement. The Saints might not be thinking about their quarterback along those lines a year later.
GM Mickey Loomis did not discuss finding a potential successor for the 38-year-old passer like the Giants and Steelers did for their younger franchise stalwarts but did note the Saints aren’t presently thinking about doing another long-term deal for Brees, who is again entering a contract year.
“You know, Drew’s at that point in his career where for him, I think it’s, ‘Hey, how do I feel?‘” Loomis said, via Mike Triplett of ESPN.com. “He had a great season; he’s planning on having another great season. And then we’ll go from there.”
As part of the one-year extension Brees signed, he’s scheduled make $24.25MM in guaranteed money this season. Brees is coming off another 5,000-yard slate — an NFL-record fifth of his career and first since 2013 — but the Saints finished 7-9 for a third straight year. Loomis didn’t necessarily say the team wouldn’t pursue another extension with Brees, but the longtime GM notes the thought process hasn’t gotten to that point. Triplett argues the Saints are taking the year-to-year approach in case they want to move on from Brees and start a rebuild with a younger, cheaper passer.
Brees said before the 2016 season he plans to play beyond this extension. He preferred to secure a longer-term extension but agreed to the one-year deal due it being in the Saints’ best interests. New Orleans stands to possess more than $29MM in cap space this year after last season’s Brees cap number — one the team didn’t ultimately bring down to help create space during free agency — hovered over the offseason.
- The Saints were busy today. Alex Marvez of The Sporting News reports (via Twitter) that the team interviewed former Alabama defensive line coach Bo Davis for the same position, and he notes that the team will interview both Brian VanGorder and Mike Nolan for defensive staff positions. Meanwhile, ESPN’s Adam Caplan tweets that the organization also interviewed 49ers outside linebackers coach Jason Tarver to be their next linebackers coach.
- While Nolan and others are potentially looking to join the Saints coaching staff, Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com caught up with Bill Johnson, who was recently let go as the team’s defensive line coach. Johnson had spent eight seasons in New Orleans, including the team’s Super Bowl-winning campaign. However, he understood that all good things must come to an end. “I was there a long time,” he said. “Everybody’s got a shelf life, and you move on. But, it was good.”
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- The Jets’ previously reported interest in Saints wide receivers coach John Morton has already led to an interview. The two sides met Tuesday, and Morton remains in the running for the job, reports Mike Triplett of ESPN.com.