ABC26 Sports

Chris Paul will be a Hornet for at least four more years. The Agent for the Hornets all star guard said he will be in New Orleans tomorrow to finalize Paul's new "max" deal with the team. Paul could have opted for a 3 year deal , but agent Lance Young said Paul will sign a 4 or 5 year deal.

The NBA salary cap could be at least 60 million dollars per team. In a max deal , Paul could earn 25 percent of the cap. That is $15 million for the first year, with 10 percent raises to follow. If Paul signs a five year deal it would be worth more than $90 million dollars.

Ed Daniels
12:12 pm

The Saints have agreed to a three year contract extension with wide receiver Marques Colston. No terms were available, agent Joel Segal would only say that the Saints "stepped up.." The deal could be a bonanza in both dollars and length. If Colston plays at his current level or higher, he could break the bank again in free agency in three years. Colston caught 98 passes last season.

First round pick Sedrick Ellis and second rounder Tracy Porter are still unsigned. Earlier in the day, the Saints announced the signing of fifth round pick guard Carl Nicks to a three year contract.

At SEC media days, the most interesting nugget came from Florida coach Urban Meyer. Meyer said he does a lot of work studying statistics, and that field position is huge in winning and losing. Meyer said his defense must create turnovers, get stops, and his special teams must give his Gators good field position to win. To me, this is the one of the most important parts of the Saints season. How much can defense and special teams improve to help what should be an explosive offense.

What do you think? How much do you think Saints offense will be improved?

Ed Daniels
July 23, 2008

All is apparently well with Saints running back Deuce McAllister. The club's all time leading rusher had his left knee drained and an MRI taken after he said he twisted his knee in Friday's AM practice. After missing yesterday afternoon and Saturday morning's work, Deuce was back on the field taking part in some drills Saturday afternoon. Deuce was lost for the season in game 3 of '07 with a torn acl in the left knee. Said Deuce, "You come back from major injury, when they take out part of the body and put another piece in, there's gonna be good and bad days."
Anticipating more a role in the Saints offense, running back Pierre Thomas said he has added 10 - 15 pounds to his frame. Thomas was looked sharped in the early days of camp.
And so has cornerback Jason David. He made a nice break up of a pass play early in the morning workout. Defensive coordinator Gary Gibbs said the Saints have not given up on David, despite his struggles in 2007.
Saints 6th round pick Taylor Mehlhaff and incumbent Martin Grammatica have not kicked much in practice. Can Mehlhaff make the last second clutch field goal that keeps kickers employed in the NFL? He thinks he can, although ironically he says he was never in that situation in three years as the frontline kicker at the University of Wisconsin.

Ed Daniels
Jackson, MS
7 26 08