Saints Nation: Saints Make Jahri Evans the Richest Guard in NFL History

Jahri Evans will be a Saint for quite some time to come. The superstar guard signed a 7 year, $56.7 million deal to finalize his restricted free agent status this offseason. The deal makes him the highest paid offensive guard in NFL history. As far as I'm concerned the guy deserves every penny because he's been a stud the last three years and has clearly demonstrated he's the best player on arguably the best offensive line in the league. Last year Evans was finally elected to his first Pro Bowl, though his performances in his first two seasons were good enough to deserve the same. Congrats to #73, looking forward to seeing you in black and gold for many season to come!

Now that he's locked up, we're just waiting on Pierre Thomas, Lance Moore and Roman Harper to follow suit with long term extensions. Jammal Brown is also a restricted free agent yet to sign a contract, so it remains to be seen what will be done with him as well. Trade rumors on draft day were heard, and based on his injury history a long term extension seems less likely.

Saints Nation: P.J. Hill Back with Saints

P.J. Hill came extremely close to making the team last season over Lynell Hamilton, and he's back in Saints camp for another year. Hill lead the Saints in rushing last preseason and he'll compete for a chance to earn the third and fourth running back spot on the team's roster. Based on his promise a year ago, I wouldn't be against him making the team. Welcome back!

Saints Nation Quote of the Week

"I don't see what the big deal is, Vicodin is just a stronger version of Tylenol" - Anonymous Saints fan on some forum

Haha! WOW. Try a weaker version of heroin.

Saints Nation: The Current Unofficial New Orleans Saints' Depth Chart

Based on the re-signing of Darren Sharper, the roster looks at least temporarily complete. I've decided to list the depth chart as I currently see it. This includes the restricted free agents that are exclusive Saints' property though they've yet to sign a contract:

QB: Drew Brees, Chase Daniel, Sean Canfield
HB: Pierre Thomas, Reggie Bush, Lynell Hamilton, Christian Ducre, Chris Ivory, Carlos Brown
FB: Heath Evans, Marcus Mailei, Zak Keasey
WR: Marques Colston, Devery Henderson, Robert Meachem, Lance Moore, Adrian Arrington, Courtney Roby, Rod Harper, Matt Simon, Chris Bell
TE: Jeremy Shockey, David Thomas, Tory Humphrey, Tyler Lorenzen, Jimmy Graham
T: Jammal Brown, Jon Stinchcomb, Jermon Bushrod, Zach Strief, Charles Brown, Jermey Parnell
G: Jahri Evans, Carl Nicks, Tim Duckworth, Brandon Carter, Joe Tonga
C: Jonathan Goodwin, Nick Leckey, Matt Tennant

E: Will Smith, Alex Brown, Bobby McCray, Jimmy Wilkerson, Jeff Charleston, Junior Galette, Brandon Sharpe
DT: Sedrick Ellis, Remi Ayodele, Anthony Hargrove, DeMario Pressley, Rodney Leisle, Al Woods, Earl Heyman, Jay Ross
OLB: Scott Shanle, Jo-Lonn Dunbar, Jonathan Casillas, Troy Evans, Anthony Waters, Jason Beauchamp, Harry Coleman
MLB: Jonathan Vilma, Marvin Mitchell, Stanley Arnoux
CB: Jabari Greer, Tracy Porter, Randall Gay, Malcolm Jenkins, Leigh Torrence, Patrick Robinson, Reggie Jones, Greg Fassitt, Patrick Robinson, Marcell Young, Glenn Sharpe, Rafael Priest
FS: Darren Sharper, Usama Young, Chip Vaughn, Ryan Hamilton
SS: Roman Harper, Pierson Prioleau, Chris Reis

K: Garrett Hartley
P: Thomas Morstead
LS: Jason Kyle, Clint Gresham

Saints Nation: Darren Sharper re-signs a 1 year deal with Saints

Yessss!!!!!!!!! After all that, Darren Sharper is back with the New Orleans Saints! He has signed a one year deal, and he confirmed this on his twitter account. You can also visit details of the story HERE.

I'm feeling pretty good about Two-Dat all of a sudden.

Saints Nation: Vicodin Theft Accusation Spells Trouble for Saints

So much for that squeaky clean reputation the Saints' front office, staff and players have enjoyed during the Sean Payton era. By now, most of you are familiar with the suit currently facing the Saints, which alleges that two senior staff members (rumored to be assistant coach Joe Vitt and head coach Sean Payton) stole the pain killing pill Vicodin from team supplies without a prescription. The suit claims Mickey Loomis was aware of the issue and ordered that it essentially be ignored, and it also claims to have video evidence of Joe Vitt stealing said medication.

It seems like most Saints fans believe this is nothing more than a greedy and desperate disgruntled former employee looking for a cash grab. Part of me agrees with this because it's clear that money is the main motivating factor in this man coming forward and exposing this story to the public, true or untrue. That said, this man Geoff Santini who is accusing the organization of these unlawful crimes is a retired FBI special agent. He's obviously a threat in that he knows how to collect evidence, and he's likely not reckless or stupid in making any serious claims. I believe the bottom line is that pills were stolen from the team's stash. If you steal medication you do not have a prescription for, that is a felony. I don't think Santini would fabricate that story out of thin air, so I do believe there's at least partial truth in his claims. I don't doubt for one second, though, that he may have sensationalized his story in order to go for the jugular.

None of us should be that worried about this particular case because the only thing that stands to happen is an exchange of money. Santini still has to prove beyond reasonable doubt facing Saints' lawyers in a court of law that his claims are true. That will be no easy feat, but if he does he would be awarded a nice chunk of change. I do think there's a decent chance this may get settled outside of court because the Saints will want this to go away. What we should be worried about is the state charges that could follow this case, and the possible jail time Sean Payton, Mickey Loomis, Joe Vitt and others could face. If Vitt and Payton both really stole Vicodin, they're facing a possible felony charge. Loomis is facing the possible cover up of a felony, based on the charges.  This could cause a serious distraction to both the team and the players. Depending on how far this goes it could weigh heavily on the coaching staff's mind smack dab in the heart of the regular season. We know how long these kind of proceedings can drag out, and without resolution something of this nature can stay in the back of someone's mind for a long time. Sadly I think this claim is just the beginning of what will be a long and taxing process to uncover the truth.

Whether some or all of the Saints' staff are innocent from these charges, they'll have to worry about proving it over the course of a long period of time. The effects could ultimately hinder the team's performance, and as fans that is what we should be worried about the most. On top of that, we're looking at a possible public black eye for the organization on a national scale, and maybe jail time down the road for some of the team's biggest masterminds. That's all worse case scenario, but we shouldn't be naive about the fact that these charges are very serious, and there's probably no easy way out of this.

Saints Nation: Heath Evans' Softball Event A Big Success

The softball showdown at Zephyr field was a raging success in large part thanks to the Saints fans. The turnout was close to selling out Zephyr field, and fans were treated to a great softball game by their favorite athletes. You can read a review of the game and evening HERE. Proceeds from the event went to the Heath Evans Foundation, designed to give counseling to sexually abused children. More information on the foundation can be found HERE.

Congrats to the fans for making this event so special, and thank you to the players, particularly Heath Evans, for putting on something the fans could really enjoy!