cajuncannon3

From ESPN.com....................

There figures to be some player trades during the draft -- tailbacks Shaun Alexander (Seattle) and Travis Henry (Buffalo), along with wideout Rod Gardner (Washington), are all good bets to have new homes by Sunday evening -- but don't look for New Orleans defensive end Darren Howard to be searching the Yellow Pages for a moving company.

The Saints, of course, have been shopping the talented Howard, and his $7.8 million salary-cap number for 2005, around the league for months. But ever since the Saints and Cowboys failed to consummate a swap last month, things have cooled considerably, and the phones of New Orleans officials haven't been ringing. Loaded with a league-high 13 choices, Philadelphia might have been a suitor for Howard, but only if the Eagles had succeeded a few weeks ago in dealing defensive tackle Corey Simon to Baltimore.

There are some unsubstantiated rumblings that, as the first round progresses and based on what transpires, the Cowboys might make a draft-day offer. But in this regard, the situation with Howard remains unchanged: General manager Mickey Loomis and coach Jim Haslett know that the five-year veteran, who matched his career-high with 11 sacks in '04 despite playing much of the time at tackle, is a good player. And, since the Saints can afford to carry Howard's ponderous cap number for one more year (not carry it very comfortably, but carry it nonetheless), they aren't just going to give him away.

Looks like he might be sticking around. You never know. I wouldn't mind keeping him for one more year, bc we all know we need fresh d-ends, bc our d-tackles will suck once again!