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Congratulations on a new deal.

“Thank you very much. I’m extremely excited to be back. That free agency process is not as much fun as it’s advertised as, especially when you have a strong desire to go to one place and kind of be in your home. I’m just glad that it worked out.”

How did you go about it? Didn’t you want to stay in New Orleans all along?

“You have to be smart about it and try you best to kind of keep a level head. As much as I did want to stay, you have to be open to the possibility that it’s not going to work out for whatever reason that is. You try to keep an open kind and go into with that mindset that it might not work. I think that’s the same way that the teams go into. Even if they want a guy, maybe it doesn’t always all come together. Try to keep a level head and yet at the same time every time we heard from somebody else I made sure to emphasize to my agent that he needed to call the Saints and make sure that they were in the loop and see if we could get something accomplished.”

That will make a lot of people happy here. Why New Orleans and why were you so passionate about trying to make this work?

“I think for me it may be a little different than those guys. I’m sure that in New Orleans now that there is a culture of winning here. That I’m sure is attractive to people outside of the building and that’s something that I think guys desire is to be on a winning team. For me even more so than that, I feel like I’ve become a part of creating that culture. I do feel invested in kind of the change that has occurred here in the last eight years. That’s important for me to be around and to continue and have the possibility of finishing my career in the place where I started had a lot to do with it. And on top of all of that, I love the guys here. I love the coaching staff. I have a personal relationship with a lot of people in this building from equipment guys to training staff to the coaching staff and certainly to my teammates. There were a lot of reasons for me that it made sense to stay and you top that all off with getting to continue living in New Orleans and all the great stuff that it provides. It was hard for me to come up with a reason to leave.”

Cincinnati was home originally, right?

“Yes”

Has New Orleans become home now?

“I think even my mother at this point would concede that New Orleans is my home, as much as it probably pains her to say. This will probably, barring an unforeseen circumstance, be the place where I spend the rest of my life. I feel like I’m a part of the community. People talk a lot about it’s the people that make New Orleans. When it’s the people that make a city, it’s hard to leave it because you can’t bring those people with you. You can go to another city that has great festivals or parties or a great atmosphere or has great food. There are other cities in the world that have those things but the people here are really unique. I don’t think that I could let that go out of my life. I think that staying here with the people that I’ve met and the friendships that I’ve built is really important to me.”

Read more: Zach Strief talks about re-signing with the New Orleans Saints

TheOak

I sent my wife a txt saying Lance signed with the Steelers.

She replied "and zach resigned"

My reply "don't ever leave the - out of that word again, it sort of changes everything and caused some panic".!

dizzle88

New threads have been started here before saying - "Player" Resigns

Suddenly that thread has 100 views in 2 minutes and everybody is screaming don't leave out the dash!! Lmao

I bet your wife won't make that mistake again Oak! Lol

lee909

I have been guilty of said mistake before

Ashley

i must be the only guy that isn't excited about him. He's not bad, i wanted us to move on with out him. Could be worse I guess

SaintsBro

I liked his remarks about the culture of winning, and being invested in the change since Payton's arrival, and his commitment to the winning attitude of the Saints organization and the guys in "the building." I love hearing that type of stuff. It's not just sound bites, it's important. Hopefully that attitude and culture of winning, will definitely rub off with some of the new younger guys.

Utah_Saint

Gotta respect a player that takes less money than he could have gotten because he loves the city he plays for.

ChrisXVI

The guy loves New Orleans and loves being a Saint... Instant legend in my mind! Who would've thought we'd be the team that guys take less money to stay with and the best free agents sign with?! Damn it feels good to be a Saints fan!

hagan714

i think this was the #1 signing in the off season so far. this changes and solidifies so many different things this off season, plus he is always a class act.

Marlboro Man

It's great to hear those remarks about the city, the people and the culture. Zack really gets it. Man, I know what it means to miss New Orleans, those comments kinda choked me up a bit.