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Status of Saints' WR Devery Henderson up in the air

METAIRIE — Wide receiver Devery Henderson's days as a New Orleans Saint may soon be over.

Asked Saturday about the status of Henderson as well as linebacker Scott Shanle and defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis, who are all unsigned veteran free agents like Henderson, Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said, “They’re probably not part of our plans for this year.”

Henderson, a product of Opelousas High School, has been with the Saints since 2004 when he was drafted in the second round out of LSU. He played the last year of a four-year contract last season and had the least productive season of his career, catching 22 passes for 316 yards and one touchdown.

Saints coach Sean Payton, though, was not as blunt when asked if the Saints were moving on without Henderson in light of their selection of Oklahoma wide receiver Kenny Stills in the fifth round on the last day of the NFL Draft Saturday.

"Well, no I don't know that I would say that," Payton said. "I wouldn't say that the door has been closed because we drafted a receiver today. I think that's something that with him (Henderson), I think might be sorted out sooner than later. I think there are a handful of players in this league - veteran players in this league that are still unsigned. Good football players that I think often times will wait until after the draft. For instance, if your are a team that had a need at receiver, and you weren't able to fill that need during the draft, you might go back to the pro board. I know we do that every year. So there is a second wave of paying attention to filling a need. So I think sooner, rather than later, we will get a feel for that."

Stills (6-0, 190) caught 204 passes for 2,594 yards and 24 touchdowns in three seasons as a starter at Oklahoma. In the 2012 season, he caught 82 passes for 959 yards and 11 touchdowns. The Saints did not go into the draft with an eye on Stills or necessarily looking for a receiver, but when he was still available at the 11th pick of fifth round and 144th overall, they snagged him.

"That was not necessarily a must or something we had gone into the process with, but I think when we got to that selection we valued his skill set," Payton said. "He is fluid, fast, has been productive, has played at a high level of competition and can run. He is six foot (short for Payton's tastes), but he is lean, and I think he has good transition with his speed. A lot of times when you get someone that can run as well as he does, maybe he doesn’t transition as well. But his speed and his production are the two immediate things that come to mind.”

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/artic...-up-in-the-air