New Orleans Saints Sign Futures Contracts

hagan714 · 02-15-2007, 10:48 PM

Fresh Faces Looking to Make Their Mark
Doug Miller, NewOrleansSaints.com
Feb 15, 2007 ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â€Âœ 4:00 pm

The New Orleans Saints have been active in adding players to their roster since the beginning of the calendar year. Each NFL teams may begin signing players to futures contracts, or contracts which become active upon the conclusion of a season. The majority of these players are players that spent time with other NFL teams during training camp and perhaps on some practice squads during the previous season.

Some of the players signed at this time of year may have had various injuries that limited their availability during training camps, while still others may have been locked in competition for playing time behind a particularly deep pool of talent in front of them. Other players may be seeking an opportunity to land on a roster and then sharpen their skills by playing in NFL Europa.

While the numbers may suggest that the route to a full-time job in the NFL is better served through unrestricted free agency and the draft, numerous NFL players have utilized the "future" contract option as a way to get a foothold in the league. In fact, former Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Jimmy Smith, was signed by the Jaguars to a futures contract, and subsequently went on to play 10 years in the league and finished his career seventh in NFL history with 862 catches and 11th in league history with 12,287 yards and made the Pro Bowl fives times over the course of his career.

Last season, Atlanta signed guard Tyson Clabo to a futures contract and the Wake Forest product made the most of his opportunity, going on to start 10 games for the Falcons in 2006. In 2006 the Saints signed a few players to future contracts that spent the season with the team, WR Jammal Jones, who played in 14 games, including one start, and had six receptions for 108 yards and a touchdown, six kickoff returns for 130 yards (21.7 avg.) and nine special teams tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. FB Keith Joseph and T Chad Setterstrom spent the season on the team's injured reserve list after showing impressive signs during training camp and the preseason.

The Saints' pro scouting department, spearheaded by Vice President of Player Personnel Rick Mueller carefully monitors the waiver wire and keeps track of all of the transactions in all of the professional football leagues, including the Arena Football League, afl2, the Canadian Football League and NFL Europa, all done in an effort to increase the Saints' overall depth and competitiveness. While players such as Smith may be the exception to the rule in terms of longevity and production, NFL rosters are littered with players who took advantage of being able to sign quickly and get into a team's off-season strength and conditioning programs and have the extra months to get acclimated with a team's offensive or defensive schemes.

Since the beginning of the new calendar year, the Saints have added the following players to their roster: FB Kevin Dudley, S Chris Reis, G Dave Yovanovits, G Wes Sims, WR Lance Moore, LB Cornelius Wortham, LB E.J. Kuale, T Ben Archibald, DT Brandon Villareal, DT McKinley Boykin, DE Willie Evans, CB Anwar Phillips, QB Jason Fife, K Kurt Smith, WR Dante Ridgeway and TE Robert Johnson .

Of the aforementioned players, Evans, Boykin, Reis, Wortham and Smith have been allocated to NFL Europa and will report to the spring league's training camps, which will be held in Tampa beginning later this month.

Below is a brief look at each player:
http://www.neworleanssaints.com/news...articleid=3329

Nice to see some of the names on list. others I have to do some reading on.

02-15-2007, 10:48 PM	#1
hagan714 LB Mentallity Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 15,870 Blog Entries: 68	New Orleans Saints Sign Futures Contracts Fresh Faces Looking to Make Their Mark Doug Miller, NewOrleansSaints.com Feb 15, 2007 ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â€Âœ 4:00 pm The New Orleans Saints have been active in adding players to their roster since the beginning of the calendar year. Each NFL teams may begin signing players to futures contracts, or contracts which become active upon the conclusion of a season. The majority of these players are players that spent time with other NFL teams during training camp and perhaps on some practice squads during the previous season. Some of the players signed at this time of year may have had various injuries that limited their availability during training camps, while still others may have been locked in competition for playing time behind a particularly deep pool of talent in front of them. Other players may be seeking an opportunity to land on a roster and then sharpen their skills by playing in NFL Europa. While the numbers may suggest that the route to a full-time job in the NFL is better served through unrestricted free agency and the draft, numerous NFL players have utilized the "future" contract option as a way to get a foothold in the league. In fact, former Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Jimmy Smith, was signed by the Jaguars to a futures contract, and subsequently went on to play 10 years in the league and finished his career seventh in NFL history with 862 catches and 11th in league history with 12,287 yards and made the Pro Bowl fives times over the course of his career. Last season, Atlanta signed guard Tyson Clabo to a futures contract and the Wake Forest product made the most of his opportunity, going on to start 10 games for the Falcons in 2006. In 2006 the Saints signed a few players to future contracts that spent the season with the team, WR Jammal Jones, who played in 14 games, including one start, and had six receptions for 108 yards and a touchdown, six kickoff returns for 130 yards (21.7 avg.) and nine special teams tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. FB Keith Joseph and T Chad Setterstrom spent the season on the team's injured reserve list after showing impressive signs during training camp and the preseason. The Saints' pro scouting department, spearheaded by Vice President of Player Personnel Rick Mueller carefully monitors the waiver wire and keeps track of all of the transactions in all of the professional football leagues, including the Arena Football League, afl2, the Canadian Football League and NFL Europa, all done in an effort to increase the Saints' overall depth and competitiveness. While players such as Smith may be the exception to the rule in terms of longevity and production, NFL rosters are littered with players who took advantage of being able to sign quickly and get into a team's off-season strength and conditioning programs and have the extra months to get acclimated with a team's offensive or defensive schemes. Since the beginning of the new calendar year, the Saints have added the following players to their roster: FB Kevin Dudley, S Chris Reis, G Dave Yovanovits, G Wes Sims, WR Lance Moore, LB Cornelius Wortham, LB E.J. Kuale, T Ben Archibald, DT Brandon Villareal, DT McKinley Boykin, DE Willie Evans, CB Anwar Phillips, QB Jason Fife, K Kurt Smith, WR Dante Ridgeway and TE Robert Johnson . Of the aforementioned players, Evans, Boykin, Reis, Wortham and Smith have been allocated to NFL Europa and will report to the spring league's training camps, which will be held in Tampa beginning later this month. Below is a brief look at each player: http://www.neworleanssaints.com/news...articleid=3329 Nice to see some of the names on list. others I have to do some reading on.