The 2012 New Orleans Saints Thread with a little lagniappe.

[cfountain]

really nice

 

[PortCityProphet]

who's this Cadet kid he looks pretty good out there

 

[cfountain]

Joe

he gotta break one at some point.

 

[Plexxx]

sorry to my saints. good game so far. but Breaking Bad is about to come on

 

[cfountain]

come on Chase

 

[cfountain]

Banyard, Cadet, and Tyrunn Walker have played very well.

and Lawrence Wilson needs a shot too...tho he is gonna have a 1 game suspension if he does make it.

 

[PortCityProphet]

Vilma might get his suspension lifted but he has to drop the suit against Goodell. sounds like Goodell knows he gonna lose in court. and if he drops down Vilma's sentence he has to drop down everyone else's.
Sources -- Jonathan Vilma suspension could be reduced if he withdraws civil suit - ESPN

The NFL has offered to reduce New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma's year-long suspension to eight games as part of ongoing settlement talks involving the league, the NFL Players Association and legal representatives for the four players who were suspended for their alleged participation in the team's bounty program from 2009-2011, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

The league's offer was made late last week but it is conditional upon Vilma dropping a civil lawsuit charging commissioner Roger Goodell with defamation of character, sources said. Vilma has expressed his strong feelings about his tainted reputation.
Settlement talks are expected to continue Monday and sources say that Friday's next scheduled appearance before U.S. District Court Judge Ginger Berrigan could serve as a soft deadline to reach a settlement. The two sides filed more arguments in the Louisiana court this past Friday in advance of this week's hearing.

Judge Berrigan conducted the original hearing on July 26th on whether to grant a temporary restraining order on behalf of Vilma and three other players -- Saints defensive end Will Smith, Packers defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove and Browns linebacker Scott Fujita -- who were suspended by Goodell.

Judge Berrigan expressed concerns about Goodell's actions during the first hearing in which seven members of the Saints testified that they never witnessed Vilma offering $10,000 to any teammate who injured opposing quarterbacks Kurt Warner and Brett Favre in the 2009-2010 playoffs. Those who testified also denied there was a pay-to-injure bounty program, including Saints interim head coach Joe Vitt, who will serve his own six-game suspension to open the season.

While sources said league attorneys have urged Goodell to offer reductions in the suspensions as a settlement, a league official reiterated Goodell's position that if the players had participated fully in the appeals process, the commissioner may have reduced the penalties as he has with other players who have been disciplined in other cases. The league official also noted that the current legal proceeding began with a settlement conference.

Saints owner Tom Benson has privately expressed his displeasure with Goodell on the severity of the sanctions that hit the franchise, including a year-long suspension of head coach Sean Payton and an eight-game suspension of general manager Mickey Loomis, according to sources.

Payton and Loomis are not part of the legal proceedings that are currently active in federal court. A source speculated that if the federal judge rules in favor of the players then Benson could push for Goodell to consider a reduction in Payton's suspension. A team source downplayed that scenario.

 

[O.iatlhawksfan]

Vilma might get his suspension lifted but he has to drop the suit against Goodell. sounds like Goodell knows he gonna lose in court. and if he drops down Vilma's sentence he has to drop down everyone else's.
Sources -- Jonathan Vilma suspension could be reduced if he withdraws civil suit - ESPN

Thats the best news of the day!!! I say he takes it cuz he's gonna have to rehab his injuries anyways.

 

[blockboy504]

why not bruh

had to work smh...

 

[cfountain]

some potential for some good news this morning.

 

[RC-P90]

goodell full 'o shyt...he should have suspended everyone involved in this so called 'bounty program' when he first learned of its existence if he truly cared about player safety and league order...now he lookn crazy...

i knew the motive behind the suspensions in no way related to saints conduct...the story breaks about how the new orleans saints had a 'bounty program'..then a lot of reactionaries beg for bans..huge fines..and suspensions,,,goodell gave them all they were asking for but now is offering to cut those suspensions...people actually believe goodell is equanimous and aint just making shyt up as he goes...

 

[O.iatlhawksfan]

He should have been smarter than that. Yu can't go listening to what people tell yu to do, at the en of the day it was his decision and he blew it.

 

[O.iatlhawksfan]

Saints own the Pats in practice

Saints get better of Pats at practice

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Before a standing-room-only crowd that is likely to top the single-session training camp record – possibly as many as 17,000, if not more – the New England Patriots hosted the New Orleans Saints for a joint practice on Tuesday afternoon.

The biggest takeaway from the full-pads practice: The Saints owned it.

The Patriots’ offense was not sharp in drills when the teams faced each other. Quarterback Tom Brady was intercepted twice – once in 7-on-7 drills in the red zone (by linebacker Curtis Lofton), and another time in 11-on-11 work (by cornerback Malcolm Jenkins). At one point, after the offense stalled once again, Brady walked to the sideline dejectedly.

Overall, there were a lot of footballs on the ground when the New England offense was on the field, and too many missed connections. Coach Bill Belichick, who arrived 51 minutes late as he was attending the funeral of Andy Reid’s son Garrett, should be able to find plenty of teaching opportunities on the tape.

Meanwhile, the Saints’ offense, led by quarterback Drew Brees, generally had its way with the Patriots’ defense. The Saints looked like they had a much cleaner operation.

Rocker Jon Bon Jovi’s presence added a celebrity aspect to the joint practice, as Bon Jovi signed autographs and visited with Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Saints owner Tom Benson. Bon Jovi is a longtime friend of Belichick. Boston College men’s hockey coach Jerry York, also a close friend of Belichick, was also on hand to watch from the sideline.

A few other quick-hit thoughts:

Great scene. Overall, just a terrific scene here at Gillette Stadium. Saints defenders wore black jerseys, while their offense players wore white. The Patriots’ defenders were in blue, while the offense players wore white. It was neat to see the different colors on the field, and to take in sights such as Patriots left guard Logan Mankins chatting with Saints quarterback Drew Brees during practice.

Jones’ length shows up. Patriots defensive end Chandler Jones (6-5, 260) stands out from a length perspective, and it showed up in 11-on-11 drills when he batted down a Drew Brees pass by getting his hands in the air.

Spikes out again. Middle linebacker Brandon Spikes remained out of practice for a third straight day. Elsewhere on the injury front, safety James Ihedigbo was the notable player returning to practice, while rookie receiver Jeremy Ebert (7th round, Northwestern) was in full pads for the first time.

Kasay addresses both teams. In a moment at the end of practice, both clubs took a knee and listened to the longest-tenured NFL player on the field, Saints kicker John Kasay. Also, Patriots special teams captain Matthew Slater said some words to both teams, before everyone kneeled in prayer.

http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/...onnew-england-patriots&id=4726452&city=boston

Good signs for the Saints

 

[SubZeroDegrees]

Saints own the Pats in practice



NFL Saints get better of Pats at practice - ESPN

Good signs for the Saints

Spags wrote the blueprint of stopping Thomas Bundchen.

 

[I AM WE ARE]

all we need is a healthy preseason and vilma to come back strong interim head coach drew brees is going to keep things on path a healthy ingram thomas and sproles will be the reason we will i'm saying 12-4 easily 13-3 is not out the question