 | Saints looking hard for defensive ends |
 METAIRIE, La.
Released from the shackles of the NFL’s “final four” rule, the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints are diving into the free agent market and starting by taking a close look at defensive ends.
St. Louis Rams defensive ends James Hall and Leonard Little both are of interest to New Orleans, Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said.
Hall was finishing up a visit on Friday and Little was expected to reschedule a visit that he had to call off this week because of a personal conflict, Loomis said.
New Orleans could use another experienced defensive end after releasing veteran Charles Grant last week. But the search was slowed by a league rule for an uncapped season limiting which free agents may be signed by teams that played in conference title games until they’ve lost free agents of their own.
When linebacker Scott Fujita signed a three-year, $14 million deal with Cleveland, the Saints could start looking at players with expired contracts on other teams.
“Scott just got an offer that was too good to turn down,” Loomis said. “He wanted to return to New Orleans. We wanted him to return to New Orleans, but we understand what free agency is. ... Now we’ve got an opportunity to bring some guys in.”
With Fujita turning 31 and the Saints’ roster full of young linebackers, New Orleans could not justify matching the Browns’ offer.
Loomis said 2009 draft pick Stanley Arnoux, 2009 undrafted free agent Jonathan Casillas, two-year pro Jo-Lonn Dunbar, 2007 draft pick Marvin Mitchell, three-year pro Anthony Waters and veteran Troy Evans all could compete to join middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma and weakside linebacker Scott Shanle as starters.
Loomis would not rule out going after a linebacker in free agency, but acknowledged the Saints’ depth at defensive end is thinner.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20100314/SPORTS03/100313020
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