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New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton envisions Will Smith, Jonathan Vilma, Roman Harper on 2013 roster

New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton said he does envision defensive end Will Smith, linebacker Jonathan Vilma and safety Roman Harper on the Saints roster next year in an interview on WWL-AM on Tuesday night. Payton quickly added a disclaimer, though.

"First off, I do envision those guys in a Saints uniform, and yet I'm also realistic and understand that every year since the beginning of free agency the percentage of players on your roster that turns over is different than it used to be," Payton said. "There was a time where you had your draft. What two or three rookies were going to beat out the veterans on a roster?

"It's different now. There's an economic factor to it. It's as simple as a household budget. If you're going to have cable and you're going to have heat, you might not be able to have something else. So you've really got to look closely at your production, you've got to look closely at your cap."

The Saints are still slightly over the salary cap despite restructuring contracts of Marques Colston, Jahri Evans, Ben Grubbs, David Hawthorne, Curtis Lofton and Brodrick Bunkley this offseason. Smith ($14.5 million salary cap figure for 2013), Vilma ($8.6 million) and Harper ($7.1 million) are all targets for restructuring their contracts or becoming salary cap casualties by the time the league year starts March 12.

Payton was also asked about handling skeptics, fans and media concerning the hiring of defensive coordinator Rob Ryan because he may be similar to Gregg Williams: "It's great to have an opinion. We think, and I'm certain of it, that we have the best football fans in the world. The interest level in our program and our team, not just the season, but with the offseason and the combine coming up leading up to the draft, that's just the excitement and they're passionate. But what's most important is making choices and decisions that aren't based on popularity.

"Rob is a guy that's got a great pedigree. He's a guy that's confident. He's guy that brings a certain amount of enthusiasm to his units. He's a guy we've faced and I've known him for a long time. You spend your time doing a lot of homework, but clearly you've got to do what's best for the program. So those decisions are made are meant for any type of popularity. ... That's not what we do. The most important thing we have to do is win. We've kind of made every decision over the last six or seven years with that in mind. ... I feel like, we feel like he's going to do an outstanding job.

"I'm fired up he's on board. I think he's going to be fantastic with our players. We're going to have to help him in regards to looking closely at our personnel. There's a series of things that have to take place for us to play better. But I like everything about him and went through a pretty thorough process, not just in hiring Rob on the defensive side of the ball, but with a handful of all the other coaches we hired. ... The mistakes really looking back on it is when you do hurry or you make the decision quickly."

New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton envisions Will Smith, Jonathan Vilma, Roman Harper on 2013 roster | NOLA.com