Things have been looking really bleak the last couple of weeks in New Orleans following all the things that have unfolded with the Saints' organization. Last night brought a flurry of positive news that should give us some hope, if nothing else, heading to 4pm today which marks the start of NFL free agency.

The first piece of news which put in context with the others is least noteworthy is that the Saints re-signed Chase Daniel for a 1 year, $1 million deal, inclusive of a 300k signing bonus. It's nice to have him back, especially with Drew Brees' contract status currently in limbo. Daniel was a restricted free agent, but it didn't seem like the Saints wanted to offer him the minimum tender (which would have been more than $1 million) so I feared Daniel would test the open market.

Then there's Marques Colston and Carl Nicks... no comments

We're now just a little over 24 hours until the free agency period starts, which means we could be bidding adieu to both Carl Nicks and Marques Colston this week. I believe Nicks will sign a deal in the first 48 hours of free agency because teams will throw money at him immediately. I'm sure a team or two will throw a ridiculous offer at him but say "we're pulling this off the table if you don't sign right away", which may force his hand into a quick decision. I believe Colston may take a tad longer because he'll actually get an offer from the Saints that gives him pause and I wouldn't be surprised if he took more of a tour of NFL cities before deciding. 

NFL trade rumors lists their top 50 free agents of this 2012 class, and Carl Nicks comes in at #4 while Colston comes in just behind him at 5. Also on this list at #33 is Robert Meachem.

The following players will be free to entertain offers from all 32 teams starting at 4pm tomorrow: no comments

While Carl Nicks has publicly shouted from the rooftops of New Orleans that he's as good as gone based on the lack of communication he's had with the Saints' brass, Marques Colston has been the exact oppposite, approaching free agency as a complete enigma. We've gotten some mixed signals on Colston's return, but most have been negative. Still, it's hard to know what he's thinking because he hasn't said one word to the media. The first story that came out speculated that Colston wouldn't be giving the Saints any kind of hometown discount. Then, based on the money he was potentially commanding, it was theorized that the Saints would have a very hard time affording him. More recently Adam Schefter of ESPN said, via his twitter account, that Marques Colston didn't seem likely to return to the Saints at all. So based on these reports that's got to leave you feeling pretty pressimistic as a Saints fan, right?

Well this nugget of information got dropped in the news in the last week:  no comments

Despite grossly underperforming a year ago, the Saints have decided to bring back defensive end Turk McBride and give him another shot in 2012 with a one year deal. Larry Holder reported this via twitter. McBride's return along with the restructured deal of Will Smith means the edge rushers likely won't change all that much, with Junior Galette and Cameron Jordan also returning. I guess Steve Spanuolo feels pretty good about the Saints' defensive ends, though I can't be entirely sure why. Remember last year's promising rookie Greg Romeus enters the picture as well coming back from injury.

Speaking of injuries... no comments

Lots of clues were dropped on twitter yesterday that Super Bowl hero cornerback Tracy Porter has potentially re-signed with the Saints. Here was the suspicious activity on twitter that lead me to conclude this was a possibility: no comments

Saints' exclusive rights free agent Brian de la Puente has re-signed and while that's not earth shattering news by any stretch I think most of us feel a sigh of relief that Saints related news coming this week, for once, is positive. De la Puente is the incumbent starter at center and he came from nowhere to do an admirable job manning the middle position of the line. De la Puente not only beat out veteran Olin Kreutz, who was performing miserably, but he also beat the heir in waiting Matt Tennant who was specifically drafted to take over that position. De la Puente's deal is one year for $540,000 and his signature wraps up the only remaining exclusive rights free agent on the roster (LS Justin Drescher, WR Adrian Arrington and S Jonathon Amaya were the others). 

The potential loss of Carl Nicks looming... no comments

Andrew Juge of The Saints Nation stops by to chat with Ralph Malbrough to try to figure out who Saints fans should be most mad at. Is there anyway the Saints can convince Roger Goodell to show mercy? Andrew also wonders how bounty fest is affecting Mickey Loomis' ability to do his job.

***WARNING - EXPLICIT LANGUAGE***


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The efforts to which the Saints have gone to make me hate them this week have been unbelievable. First they don't extend Drew Brees which forces them to franchise tag him, which in turn exposes Carl Nicks to unrestricted free agency and a wide open market. That's just stupid. Then, they get busted for funding a bounty program that was either ignored, accepted or even directed by some of their biggest figure heads on the staff. Now they bring in Randy Moss for a workout? Are you serious, Saints? no comments

It's amazing how much optimism can be found around Who Dat Nation even on the heels of such troubling news. I'm getting numerous responses that "this isn't that big of a deal", "the media is blowing this out of proportion", and "Gregg Williams will get stiff penalties but the others won't". I think it's incredibly naive to think that way. My personal take: this is really bad Saints fans. The Saints are going to get hammered, and cut off at the knees because of this. Roger Goodell will make them pay by delivering, wait for it, a "remember me shot".

The reality of this situation is the Saints got caught doing something against the rules at the absolute worst of times. no comments

A bombshell was dropped on the city of New Orleans yesterday. Just days after Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis is speculated to have uttered perhaps one of the greatest faux-pas ever by the leading member of an NFL front office came the news that the Saints defense participated in a bounty system. The extensive, exhaustive investigation into the Saints bounty system which found that then New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams paid players to knock key members of the opposition out of the game uncovered another dirty little secret of the NFL. It's one that taints the Saints 2009 Super Bowl championship, the coaches and players involved, and the sport itself. no comments