The Saints have a new linebacker

Happy Friday, and welcome to the August 11 edition of the Saints Insider Newsletter.

The New Orleans Saints will be practicing at Caesars Superdome Friday morning. It’ll be the first time they have practiced in the building this training camp. It will give the team a chance to get acclimated to the bright lights as they prepare for Sunday’s preseason opener against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Here's a look back at what all happened on Thursday.

Linebacker help

If you’ve been reading or watching our podcasts, one of my biggest concerns about this team was its depth at linebacker. Well, the Saints addressed that Thursday, signing Jaylon Smith. The veteran linebacker went to the Pro Bowl in 2019. Here’s the latest on the signing of Smith.

10 for 10

The Saints have 10 more training camp practices to go. That makes this a perfect time to hear which 10 players have stood out the most so far. Jeff Duncan gives you his Top 10 here.

Special guest

The Saints will have a special guest at Friday’s practice. Click here to see who it is and to find out why he’s in town.

Super Bowl champs coming

The Saints are hosting last season’s Super Bowl champions. How much will 2-time league MVP and Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes play? We have that information for you right here.

Also, check out our practice observations and beat writer Luke Johnson’s 2-minute drill recapping Thursday’s practice.

Just for fun

Thursday on Twitter (well, X as it’s called now), I posed a question. If you combined the first name of your favorite Saints player FROM THE PAST and the last name of your favorite CURRENT Saints player, who do you get? For example, Archie Kamara.

Feel free to submit some of your answers to us. You can email us at [email protected]

Poll results

Remember that poll from Tuesday’s newsletter where we asked if you thought Dennis Allen should play Derek Carr and the rest of the starters in Sunday’s preseason game. The results are in and 82.1 % of you agree with Allen and want to see the starters. We will have another poll for you next week.

That’s all for today. Make sure to check nola.com today to see how practice in the Dome went today. Also check back for more as we tell you all you need to know about Sunday’s game against the Chiefs.

As always, thanks for reading and have a safe weekend.

Until next time...

Rod Walker