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Saints coach Sean Payton has been the NFL’s most prominent coronavirus patient.
He opens up about what it was like, how his plasma donation has made a difference
and what he likes about the Saints’ offseason plans. Plus, producer Gotham Chopra
talks all about Tom Brady's upcoming documentary—and why it’s not The Last Dance

By Albert Breer | Sports Illustrated

Sean Payton’s pretty recognizable on the Gulf Coast, so being stopped by someone isn’t the rarest occasion for a guy who’s been the Saints coach for a decade and a half. But there was a point in April, when all of us knew less about COVID-19 than we do now, where his recent history—having had COVID-19 in March—gave him a sort of encounter he’s not used to having.

He’d stopped at a gas station off the interstate in Mobile, Ala., and was in line at the Subway inside with his car sitting at the pump. A couple football fans were there too and, in a weird, only-in-2020 twist, they were being sure to keep their distance.

“And I could tell the customers in front of me, they saw that I was the head coach. But then I could also tell there was this elephant in the room,” Payton said, laughing at the memory of it. “And I’m like, ‘Hey, I’m clear. I’m clean, I’m probably the safest person in here. But I do appreciate the concern.’”

Payton was fine then, weeks removed from having contracted the virus, and he’s fine now, as he and his staff work through what’s been a very different spring...

By Matthew Paras | The Washington Times

Pass interference won’t be up for review next season. There’s a reason for that, a prominent league executive said.

In an interview with NBC Sports’ Peter King, Troy Vincent, the league’s vice president of football operations, said the NFL “failed miserably” in their implementation of reviewing pass interference plays last season.

“Those outcomes were not good for professional football,” Vincent said. “Because we didn’t do the proper due diligence, it played out publicly. The last thing people should be talking about is the way the game is officiated. They [officials] should be faceless objects, managing and facilitating game flow. We failed. I’m first in line. I shared that [with league officials]. I failed, as the leader of that department. I failed. We cannot allow that to happen again.

Full Story - Times

By John Sigler | Saints Wire

The New Orleans Saints accomplished a lot in the 2020 offseason, retaining critical starters in David Onyemata and Andrus Peat while upgrading with free agents like Emmanuel Sanders and Malcolm Jenkins. In the draft, the Saints landed a big addition in Cesar Ruiz while getting deeper at both linebacker (with Zack Baun) and tight end (picking Adam Trautman).

And they’re now in position to start re-upping some of their own free agents ahead of the 2021 cycle, such as Alvin Kamara, Demario Davis, and Marcus Williams. It’s a great spot to be in before you even consider that this team has won 13 games in each of its last two seasons.

According to ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, that was enough for the Saints to clock in as the NFL’s ninth most-successful team of the summer. But he took issue with one big move the Saints made: a weighty contract extension with Taysom Hill. Barnwell wrote:

Full Story - Saints Wire - USA Today

By Kyle T. Mosely | SI

Winning the NFC South title for three consecutive years hasn't been an easy task for the New Orleans Saints. NFL oddsmakers are still favoring the Saints at 10.5 wins. Their odds dwindled since the arrival of six-time Super Bowl champion, Tom Brady, to the NFC South this offseason with the Buccaneers. Today, our attention will focus on the Saints' most hated rival in all of football, the Atlanta Falcons. I solicited help from Falcons Reporter and Frenemy (Friends & Enemies), Jeremy Johnson reporter at the Falcon Report. Jeremy will give us his Pros and Cons to why the Falcons can dethrone the New Orleans Saints in the NFC South.

PROS
Top 5 Key Players for the Falcons

• QB Matt Ryan
• WR Julio Jones
• RB Todd Gurley
• WR Calvin Ridley
• LB Dante Fowler, Jr.

Full Story - SI