Saints Nation: Courtney Roby, Marvin Mitchell and Usama Young Sign Contract Tenders

Courtney Roby, Marvin Mitchell and Usama Young have all signed their 1 year restricted free agent contract tenders. You can read confirmation HERE.

Only Jahri Evans, Jammal Brown, Pierre Thomas, Lance Moore and Roman Harper remain unsigned from the Saints' restricted free agent pool. Word has it they're working on long term extensions with all of those players listed with the possible exception of Brown who may be traded.

Saints Nation: Usama Young Signs Back with Saints

Special teams stud and recently converted safety Usama Young is now back for another year in New Orleans, too. Young is probably penciled in as the starting free safety going into mini-camps; at least for the time being until the Darren Sharper situation gets figured out. You can read the story HERE, and his deal is worth $1.1 million for one year.

Welcome back Usama!

Saints Nation: Zach Strief and Usama Young offered contract

Converted Free Safety Usama Young (pictured) and backup tackle Zach Strief were both tendered by the Saints today, a move which likely signals the return of both players to the Saints in 2010 (story HERE). While neither move comes as a surprise, Strief and Young both qualify as very valuable role players and backups that helped build the current team's foundation. The move is a good one as it's a step towards securing both players. Strief played a significant amount of time this year as an extra blocker off the edge, and Young provided both depth in pass coverage and standout play on special teams. Young also filled in this year for Darren Sharper at free safety on occasion and was impressive, recording an interception.

With the tenders they've offered each player, the Saints can now match any offer made by another team that tries to pluck either player from the Saints' roster. If the Saints decided not to match in that case, they'd get a 2nd round draft choice in return for Strief and a 3rd rounder in return for Young. It's hard to imagine teams will be willing to make that kind of trade, so my bet is both will sign their qualifying offers.