Just as the Indianapolis Colts say they will extend quarterback Peyton Manning’s contract this offseason, the New Orleans Saints will do the same for their quarterback, Drew Brees, according to sources close to the situation.

The Saints intend to redo Brees’ deal later this year to bring his salary more in line with the game’s top quarterbacks. This season Brees was the 17th-highest paid quarterback in the league, yet he finished second in the league in MVP voting and led New Orleans to the first Super Bowl in franchise history.

New Orleans considered extending Brees’ contract last offseason, but opted to wait another year. Now that it has, the price only has risen with Brees performing the way he has. Should the Saints win Super Bowl XLIV, Brees practically would be able to name his price.

Discussions on a new deal have yet to begin, but they will this offseason. A contract is expected to be wrapped up by the time the Saints report to training camp if not during it, but nobody around the league expects Brees to play the 2010 season under the six-year, $60 million contract that he signed in March 2006.

Click here to read the full article – By Adam Schefter of ESPN.com

How many football lives does Darren Sharper have?

We’ve counted him out at least twice before. There was his departure from Green Bay after the 2004 season, one spurred because the Packers thought he was in marked decline. The next season, Sharper was an All-Pro in Minnesota.

After last season, the Vikings thought he couldn’t help them anymore, and like the Packers, they let him depart via free agency. After two months on the market, New Orleans signed him to a one-year deal worth about $1.5 million.

In 2009, he was an All-Pro once again.

Sharper’s career renaissance with the Saints has been a testament to conditioning, motivation and smart instincts. More than anything, however, it provided a template for how to use, waste and misjudge the specific skills of a player.

In 2004, the Packers blamed a lack of speed — rather than a knee injury — on Sharper’s decline in play. From 2006-08, the Vikings squeezed him into a Cover 2 scheme that minimized his playmaking abilities.

Click here to read the full article – By Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com

A 40-yard field goal in overtime by a little-known kicker could become as famous as jambalaya in these parts.

The New Orleans Saints, a team with no home and an uncertain future five years ago, are heading for their first Super Bowl. By battering Brett Favre and beating the Minnesota Vikings 31-28 Sunday, they set off celebrations on Bourbon Street that locals never could have imagined in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

“This is for everybody in this city,” said coach Sean Payton, the architect of the Saints’ turnaround. “This stadium used to have holes in it and used to be wet. It’s not wet anymore. This is for the city of New Orleans.”

And it came courtesy of Garrett Hartley and the Aints — who surely ain’t the Aints anymore.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

Reggie Bush danced around defenders who fell over each other trying to tackle him. Drew Brees was back to passing with pinpoint accuracy, picking apart a beleaguered and depleted Arizona secondary.

A little rest was all the Saints needed to shift their league-leading offense back into overdrive.

That, and a visit from Arizona’s porous defense.

Brees threw three touchdown passes, Bush scored on an 83-yard punt return and a spectacular 46-yard run, and New Orleans overwhelmed the defending NFC champion Cardinals 45-14 in their divisional playoff game Saturday.

“So much for being rusty,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “That bye week was critical, getting guys healthy. … I knew we were ready, the way we worked all week and we were confident in what we were going to do.”

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

Chris Johnson didn’t get any votes for MVP. He didn’t miss any for The Associated Press 2009 NFL All-Pro team.

The 2,000-yard rusher from the Tennessee Titans was the only unanimous choice for the squad, which was announced Thursday. He’s joined in the backfield by Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, who won an unprecedented fourth Most Valuable Player Award last week, when only quarterbacks received votes.

“That’d be a good thing,” said Johnson, who won the Offensive Player of the Year award Wednesday. “Because I feel like if you put a season out there, out of those dudes who got votes or the dudes who won, I wouldn’t feel they had a better season than I had, and broke as many records in one season that I had.”

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

That blur speeding away from opposing defenses and running off with The Associated Press 2009 NFL Offensive Player of the Year award is Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson.

Considered the fastest man in pro football, Johnson was uncatchable in setting a league mark for yards from scrimmage (2,509) and becoming the sixth player with a 2,000-yard rushing season.

He is the first NFL player to finish with at least 2,000 yards rushing and 500 receiving (503).

That earned the second-year pro 38½ votes Wednesday from a nationwide panel of 50 sportswriters and broadcasters who cover the NFL. Johnson easily beat New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees, who received nine votes.


Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

New Orleans running back Pierre Thomas left the Saints’ game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with bruised ribs.


The injury appeared to occur during the second quarter of Sunday’s game on a 26-yard run. After being looked at by trainers on the sideline, Thomas went back into the game, but team officials said in the second half that he would sit out the remainder of the game.

Thomas is New Orleans’ leading rusher with 793 yards this season, including 60 yards and an 8-yard touchdown in the first half against the Buccaneers.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

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