It's practically here, Saints fans! Players report to training camp at team headquarters on Airline Drive today, two days before their first practice session open to the public.
It has been a nightmare offseason in the Who Dat Nation. In March, the NFL announced it had concluded an investigation into claims of a so-called "pay-to-injure" bounty program run under then-Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams from 2009 through 2011. A couple of weeks later, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced head coach Sean Payton will be suspended for the entire 2012 season, General Manager Mickey Loomis would serve and eight game suspension, and assistant head coach Joe Vitt would serve a six game suspension. Their appeals to the commissioner were all rejected.
Williams, hired as St. Louis' new defensive coordinator just before the commissioner announced the punishments, has been suspended indefinitely, but can apply for reinstatement next year.
The league also took away the Saints second-round draft picks in 2012 and 2013 (the Saints had already traded the 2012 first-round pick to New England).
After first reporting more than 20 current and former Saints players could be implicated in the bounty allegations, the NFL settled on only four player suspensions: Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma for an entire season, Saints defensive end Will Smith for four games, former Saints defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove (now with Green Bay) for eight games and former Saints linebacker Scott Fujita (now with Cleveland) for three games. Commissioner Goodell rejected all players' appeals, and now the matter is the subject of a federal lawsuit filed by the NFL Players Association.
And then on top of all that was a drawn-out contract negotiation between the team and quarterback Drew Brees. The Saints front office used its exclusive rights franchise tag to prevent other teams from courting Brees, but negotiations dragged on, with little movement from either side on getting a deal done. But by July, as the deadline approached for NFL teams to reach long-term contracts with franchised players, Brees said there had been new offers from the Saints, and three days before the deadline, both sides announced a five year deal worth $100 million, making Brees the highest paid NFL player on an annual basis.
Players report to camp today. Tune in to a special edition of SportsTalk with Bobby Hebert and Deke Bellavia at 3:00 p.m. today, with live coverage of a news conference with assistant head coach Joe Vitt, quarterback Drew Brees and safety Roman Harper at 3:30.
Tomorrow, players take their conditioning tests. Thursday at 4:00 p.m. is the first practice session open to the public.
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Kristian@wwl.com
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