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New Orleans Saints uncertain about decisions of Pierre Thomas, Jahri Evans, others
By The Times-Picayune

By James Varney and Mike Triplett

The New Orleans Saints enter the final hours of restricted free agency Thursday with a handful of players still unsigned, although none of them appear to be another team's crosshairs

With the deadline for restricted free agent to sign offer sheets elsewhere coming at midnight Thursday, the Saints remain uncertain about the decisions of running back Pierre Thomas, guard Jahri Evans, wide receiver Lance Moore, safety Roman Harper, linebacker Marvin Mitchell and wide receiver Courtney Roby.

Some of them may well join safeties Chris Reis and Usama Young, who signed their offers from the Saints, according to announcements from their agents Wednesday.

Others, like Thomas, Evans and Moore, could be similar to offensive tackle Jammal Brown -- veterans who would have been unrestricted free agents this offseason were it not for the expiration of the league's collective bargaining agreement.

Brown said Tuesday he will not sign his tender Thursday and will not report next week for the Saints scheduled conditioning sessions.
"We'll assess all that tomorrow and cross that bridge when we come to it, " Thomas' agent, Lamont Smith, said. "We'll continue to have discussions with people, and we'll see what tomorrow brings."
Smith also declined to comment on whether Thomas plans to attend next week's sessions.

The Saints offered Thomas a one-year, $1.684 million qualifying contract last month. If he signs that deal, he would get a significant raise from the $460,000 he earned last season.

In addition, both sides have sent clear signals they are interested in a more lucrative long-term extension, the sort of deal that some teams are perhaps shying away from. The 2010 season will be without a salary cap, but should a new agreement be signed, the cap will kick in in 2011.

"I definitely want to work up a long-term deal with the Saints; I definitely want to get that done," Thomas said at a recent appearance. "but it's up to them. It's a business, and it's up to them. I'm putting my resume out there, showing what I can do. And you know, I love the New Orleans, I love the fans. But it's really not up to me. And now it's up to them if they want to keep me."
And Thomas also predicted he will participate in all drills.
"I'm going to show up, " he said. "Just because that's my attitude and personality."
Young joins several members of the Super Bowl XLIV champions who will return to the team. The Saints had offered a salary of just more than $1.1 million, and would have received a third-round pick as compensation if he signed with another team. Since being drafted out of Kent State, Young has been a backup in the secondary and a valuable member of the special teams.
Reis, who gained a measure of Saints immortality when he recovered the onside kick to begin the second half of Super Bowl XLIV, also signed his tender for $1.1 million.

Agents for Moore and Roby either declined comment or did not respond to calls and e-mails, leaving their status up in the air. Moore has been tendered at roughly $1.76 million and carries a second round draft pick compensation, and Roby was offered $1.17 million and would bring a third round pick.

Should any of these restricted free agents sign a last-day offer from another team, the Saints would have seven days to match it, meaning such an announcement would not preclude them returning to New Orleans.
That seems to be the case with players like Brown and Evans. Each of them have been offered one-year deals, Brown for $3.6 million and Evans for $3.1 million. Any team that obtained them would owe the Saints both a first and a third round draft pick.

New Orleans Saints uncertain about decisions of Pierre Thomas, Jahri Evans, others | - NOLA.com

SaintPauly

Evans and Thomas, must be priorities. Although, it's 10 oclock pacific time right now, so that means midnight in the easy.... What happens if they don't sign before the deadline?

strato

They better,,,Loomis!!

HintOfLogic

this team can't take any more loses to it's nucleus than it's has so far and repeat as champs, can it? All these guys need to be retained in my opinion. Let's win three superbowls like the Patriots before we start to dilute it's nucleus and fall into obscurity... um, like the Patriots.

I'm a little worried about letting Bell and Fujita go so far....

I've got all the respect for Loomis and Payton to play business and balances, but I don't know to what degree cockyness doesn't effect your decision making post SuperBowl season? time will tell [gulp]

Crusader

I really like Thomas but he is replaceable to me. Evans however is crtical to get back.

HintOfLogic

ZOINKS !!!!!!!!!! that's crazy talk right there. Let me guess, "it was Reggie Bush's intimidation as a Decoy" that allowed Pierre to keep the season rolling as he continually converted on huge plays, make something out of nothing, refuse to go down, know how to find holes and proved to be the teams most consistent and most potent threat out of the backfield. What does that leave us with? The hit or miss Reggie Bush, and little proven Hamilton?

Pierre Thomas epitomizes the term "a keeper" in the NFL to me....

Bush showed some moments of flashiness and dedication, but showed an equal amount of games and outings where he was completely ineffective and spent the majority of games tugging his shoulder pads behind Payton.

This last season rode on the back of Pierre.... what do you gain from replacing that? What we know is Pierre is no nonsense, no gamble, gonna get it done productivity. Minus him, we're left with Bush, Hamilton and whoever else comes their way free agency or draft.... in other words, gamble. Are we back to gambling again.... after we've got proven guys?

Thing is, I can't help but sense a delusional favoritism from some fans that are bent on seeing Bush take over the show and I'm afraid it's just not going to happen. To some, Pierre represents an obstacle in the way of the Reggie Show (I don't think everyone can deny this, because it's obvious... so spare me). To me, I just want to Saints to roll. When Pierre carries the load and performs more than would be considered, it's like... he's cool, we should keep him. Bush exhibits a few flashes of effectiveness (following ineffectiveness) and everyone does backflips... could go back to dropping the ball mid exchange in the backfield and nothings nothing ? It's a simple fact of favoritism, and seeing what you want to see.

I liked the tandem of Pierre / Bush to conclude our season. BUT, I wouldn't bet that the same Bush shows up in following years. So, keep him, appease the masses, but if you lose the guys that carried the load, so goes the success.

Crusader

I see you're a Bushwhacker, thats fine with me. I think Bush is used pretty much as he should right now. He should get a mix of carries, catches and returns but not be featured in the backfield.

Thomas is good but not great, he tends to get overrated I think. Hes a solid allaround but doesn't really stand out to me. But really the point I wanted to make is that I think the offensive line is much more important than any RB we have. Thats where our succes starts and ends on offence. Without them no protection for Brees (who then would know what Archie felt like) and no holes for our backs to run trough.

W.T. Sherman is my favorite General. After all he did order Atlanta to be burned to the ground.

HintOfLogic

Awesomeness there guy. I'm sorry, did I say anything untrue there?

If Thomas is not Great to you, what is? Bush? I'm serious... what's you're solution?

I simply asked.... you lose Pierre, where does that leave you? where do you go from there? Bell is already gone. We're short on real running backs, are we not?

Ironically, the way you described Pierre fits Bush to a "T" with the exception of Bush being solid all around as he's proven to be bonk taking carries behind the line.

it's not a popularity contest you know.... ah, irony!

Here's another thought.... how about we address getting a real punt return guy. Bush was the worst in the league wasn't he?

CantonLegend

first........reggie was gameplanned around this year

teams stopped kicking deep to him......i remember him having a lot of fair catches this season because punters wouldnt punt deep and give him the room to return it.......i think he got frustrated and tried to make something out of nothing a lot more than he should've.....the beauty is that we kept him healthy, and we got decent field position because they needed to kick it shorter

secondly......the offensive line is the most important part of any run game......running backs are almost interchangeable with good offensive lines

look at guys like thomas jones, LT, emmitt smith, etc etc...the list goes on and on

they have good seasons when they are behind a great offensive line....then after awhile the system changes or the linemen move on and their production drops

"experts" blame this on age.......people that know what they are talking about realize that it is in fact the offensive line, the coach, the system, or a combination that causes the decrease in production

"deal with it or you can go play the saints and get trounced by 30 and you won't have to worry about it."-colin cowherd

Crusader

Chill dude and read what I'm saying. Am I writing "lets get rid of Thomas"? No. Am I writing "Bush is better than Thomas"? No. I'm saying I find the OL to be more important. I think a whole lot of RBs could perform very well behind the OL we have if we can just keep it together.

I start to believe you didn't watch the games. Our blocking on punt return this year was horrible the whole time. The very few times somebody got picked up Bush had decent returns. It would not have mattered if we had Cribbs, Hester or whoever back there. If you have a guy in your face right away you won't get far.

W.T. Sherman is my favorite General. After all he did order Atlanta to be burned to the ground.