Saints Head Coach Sean Payton announced today that the team would be practicing in Oxnard, Calif. during the week of Aug. 21-28 to keep the training camp going for an additional period of time during the shortened offseason.

Citing camaraderie building and getting more time in with the playbook were some of Payton’s reasons for moving the team to a new venue and adding training camp time. Payton knows the area well, as the Cowboys spent training camp in that same locale while he was their offensive coordinator.

The trip to California will coincide with the Saints third preseason game against the Raiders, and will give the black and gold players a week-long reprieve from the brutal heat and humidity that the team experiences daily in Metarie. Onxard is located in northern California and features weather in the 60s and 70s during this time of year, compared to the weather in the 90s and 100s in Louisiana.

While it is an unorthodox move that hasn’t been done by Payton in the past, the Saints coach has had a good feel for the team’s mood in the past, and the additional time the team spends together, and the more practices they get in before the season starts will be great for the team in the long haul.

The offensive line, running back, quarterback, wide receiver and tight end depth charts are all but lined up, and on defense, the line, cornerback and safety positions are also just about set.

However, at linebacker, the battle for the two positions alongside defensive captain Jonathan Vilma are up for grabs. Including Vilma, there are currently 12 linebackers on the training camp roster likely competing for six or seven spots on the regular season 53-man roster. The players on the roster competing for spots vary from young (Martez Wilson, Nate Bussey, and Jonathan Casillas) to the old (Clint Ingram, Scott Shanle, Will Herring and Danny Clark) and are all receiving a chance to earn a place on the team.

Besides Vilma, Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams is shifting players in and out of rotations on the first team defensive unit at linebacker. Although Shanle and Casillas should be considered favorites to be starters when the season starts, players such as Wilson and Herring will be there making them work that much harder for the starting position.

Although there aren’t any superstars at the position outside of Vilma, the team has a wealth of depth at linebacker, which should help a unit that has struggled in years past.

Mere days after losing starting center Jon Goodwin to the San Francisco 49ers, the Saints announced on Thursday that they had signed former Bears starting center Olin Kreutz to fill the void left by Goodwin’s departure.

Kreutz, who has been in the NFL for 13 seasons, all with the Bears, turned down a $4 million deal with the Bears and was reportedly looking at joining the Baltimore Ravens or New Orleans Saints. He was seen visiting the Crescent City during Thursday’s practice, and got to meet with Sean Payton, Mickey Loomis and other members of the Saints offense before agreeing to sign with the black and gold. In addition to turning down the Bears offer, Kreutz reportedly turned down more money elsewhere to join the Saints, where he feels he has the best chance to win a Super Bowl ring.

He signed a one-year contract that is incentive-laden.

John Clayton, an NFL analyst with ESPN, had strong words for the Saints interior line after Kreutz’s signing was announced:

Adding Olin Kreutz between Carl Nicks and Jahri Evans creates one of the best interior line blocking units in recent memory.

August 5, 2011 12:35 pm via yoonoReplyRetweetFavorite

@ClaytonESPN

John Clayton

While the loss of Goodwin may hurt the Saints since it ends a streak of 36 consecutive games started by the same five offensive linemen, the Saints ended up with a terrific replacement in Kreutz.

Jonathan Goodwin, the Saints starting center, has moved on to San Francisco after reaching a deal with the 49ers on Wednesday afternoon to terms that the Saints just could not match with their position under the salary cap. Goodwin’s absence will mark the first time that the Saints starting-five offensive line of Stinchcomb, Goodwin, Evans, Nicks and Bushrod will not have started together in 36 consecutive games. More importantly, it raises the question of depth on the team’s offensive line.

In the fourth round of last season’s draft, the Saints selected Matt Tennant, a center out of Boston College. All last year, Saints beat writers continually said that the team was impressed with his development. It looks now like the team will be starting him at center for the regular season opener whether he is developed enough or not. He has gotten all the reps so far in training camp, and it now looks like he will become the Saints unofficial starting center.

Overall, it looks to be a loss for the Saints, but not a big one. The 49ers offered Goodwin a deal the Saints couldn’t match, and now they must move on. The team would have preferred to have Tennant develop for another season or two, but are forced to start him a little earlier than planned.

Not anymore. The Saints pulled an upset on Tuesday with the signing of former 49ers defensive tackle Aubrayo Franklin to a one-year contract. Considered by many to be the top defensive tackle on the free agent market, Franklin will join a defensive tackle unit that already features the likes of Sedrick Ellis and Shaun Rogers.

Franklin, who will be 31 in 2011, is not a defensive back that gets to the quarterback. However, he is the kind that plugs holes on the line and makes it a nightmare for defending running backs and guards. While Ellis looks to remain a starter for the black and gold, look for Rogers and Franklin to team up on goal-line stands to stop running backs and sneaking quarterbacks in their tracks.

Though many considered the Saints defensive line to be their biggest weakness in 2010, it looks to be a huge strength for them in 2011. While Will Smith and Alex Brown are getting long in the tooth, the Saints added some youth to the position with Cameron Jordan in the first round of the draft and Turk McBride in free agency, look for the unit to get back to its disruptive nature of 2009.

While Brees has been questioned about his contract situation in the beginning days of training camp, he has played it cool so far, saying that his agent and the team have had some preliminary talks and that they will work to get a deal done next offseason.

The deal that Manning signed last week is worth $90 million per year, which is equal to the deal Tom Brady signed with the New England Patriots a few years back, and both are virtually tied as the highest-paid players in the game. Given Brees’ performance during his time in New Orleans, the Saints had better be ready to pony up to pay him at or near the level that Manning and Brady are being compensated.

Even though Brees has stated in the past that he considers himself to be a notch below Manning and Brady in the overall quarterback ratings, the Saints need to be careful with how much they offer him. After he signed with the Saints in 2006 with his just-injured shoulder, the team did not negotiate a new deal with him, even after he easily outperformed the deal he signed which paid him $60 million over 10 years.

The amount of money the team has been paying him is borderline criminal, and the Saints need to enter their negotiations with Brees’ representation knowing that. Even in the off-chance that a deal isn’t reached next offseason, the Saints also have the franchise tag to throw on him to keep him in the Crescent City.

Saints fans shouldn’t worry about Brees going anywhere, though. He means way too much for the team for them to let him walk, and Brees knows his value to the city, and while he will want a good deal, he understands his role for the community. Look for a deal to be done next offseason, but watch for the rumors of from the negotiations and pipe dream, hypothetical free agent places for him to land if he doesn’t resign to be reported on during and after the 2011 season.

As a gag to lighten the mood at one of the team’s first training camp sessions, Saints head coach Sean Payton called all the practicing players to the huddle and had an equipment manager deliver faux “Shirley Temple” drinks to the players that are unable to practice due to new rules in the league’s collective bargaining agreement.

Any players signing, or even resigning with a team, with a team are not allowed to begin practicing with the team until August 4 when the new collective bargaining agreement officially starts. This means that players like Lance Moore, Roman Harper, Jermon Bushrod, Darren Sproles and any other players that signed with the team as free agents are forced to sit on the sidelines at training camp until Thursday.

Payton’s prank was right out of his playbook. Anyone who read his book, “Home Team,” knows that he has a good feel for the pulse of his team and knows how to motivate them and keep them going. This “Shirley Temple” tactic sure looks to fit the part.

Well, that didn’t take long.

On the same day that the New Orleans Saints traded former top pick and electric running back Reggie Bush to the Miami Dolphins, the team replaced him on the roster with a nearly equally exciting player.

Late Thursday, the buzz around the NFL and Twitter was that the Saints had come to terms with running back Darren Sproles, formerly of the San Diego Chargers. He chose to sign with the Saints over the Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles.

According to sources, Sproles signed a four-year deal with the team worth $14 million, with $6 million of the deal guaranteed.

After losing Bush, the Saints were missing a true kickoff and punt return threat, as well as a third-down back and short-yardage receiver. With Sproles, they picked up almost exactly what they traded earlier in the day. If anything, Sproles does a more consistent job in the offensive weapon role that Bush occupied with the Saints in the past.

The offseason has only been going on for a few days, but with the moves the Saints have made, it’s clear they’re not content with being one-year-wonders as Super Bowl champions.

Fast forward five offseasons and after the former No. 2 overall pick was traded to the Miami Dolphins for a backup safety and undisclosed draft pick, the term ‘bust’ has been used to describe him. Be it his injury history, his inconsistency running between the tackles or the limited impact he has made on the field, he hasn’t come within lightyears reaching the potential that was set for him before he even came into the league.

With all that being said, Bush played an integral role in helping the Saints reach two NFC championship games and win a Super Bowl. His “wild card” presence on-the-field also helped quarterback Drew Brees elevate the Saints offense to one of the best in the league’s history.

So in this offseason, since he is no longer a member of the black and gold, it’s important to realize the impact he has had on the Saints during his short career in New Orleans. He can actually take credit for helping the Saints stay in the Big Easy.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, it took a prolonged period of time for the NFL to finally announce that the Saints would be returning to New Orleans. When they did, many fans ordered season tickets to support the team, but there was not a lot of excitement surrounding the team. It was hard for a hurricane-ravaged city to get excited for a team that finished 3-13 the previous season and had just signed a quarterback with a bum throwing arm.

Then, Bush fell to the Saints. The Texans took Mario Williams (wisely in hindsight, I may add) and the electrifying running back from Southern California came to the Saints.

Immediately after Bush was signed, the Saints season ticket sale went through the roof, and the excitement for the team’s return reached epic levels. A perusal of YouTube shows an almost panicked reaction from Saints fans at draft parties after the Bush selection was announced.

That excitement has carried the Saints to unthought of heights: a Super Bowl win and being considered one of the best offenses in NFL history. So the next time a ‘Bush is a bust’ conversation breaks out, one can think of how he didn’t reach the levels of hype that were projected for him, or then can think of how he rejuvenated a fan base and helped lead the Saints to NFL glory.

This post previously ran on Saints Post several weeks ago. It was ran again due to the trade of Reggie Bush.

No one outside of both teams’ front offices knows all the details in the trade, but it has been confirmed that the Saints received a player in the deal.

Jonathon Amaya, a backup safety and special team standout, was acquired by the Saints in the deal with Bush. The teams also exchanged undisclosed draft picks, which will likely be dependent on Bush’s production in 2011 with Miami. Amaya was called the Dolphins’ most valuable special teams player by their head coach Tony Sparano.

While the Amaya acquisition won’t make headlines anywhere, it is an interesting move for the Saints, who are trying to shore up their special teams after a dreadful season of coverage in 2010. The team used the later rounds of the draft to target players who were versatile on special teams, and Amaya’a acquisition only furthers that notion.

It could also mean a competition for players like Chris Reis, Pierson Prioleau and Amaya who are gunning for roles on the team as special teams specialists. Prioleau was special teams captain last year, and the special teams role will be another interesting battle to watch for in training camp.