In terms of need in free agency, would you rank defensive end above linebacker?

“We have a need at both of those positions, but we have more guys in the building at the linebacker position than we do at defensive end. But we also have a lot of draft picks that we get to exercise in April. Hopefully we’ll be able to fill both of those spots between free agency and the draft.”

Having evaluated Drew Brees coming off of a shoulder injury, does that make you better able to look past injuries to a player’s potential, such as Delhomme and his elbow?

“We need to answer that to some degree, although we don’t have a lot of concern about the injury. We saw some things during the season that lead us to believe that he’s fine. Again, we’ll have a discussion with him about that today and tomorrow. And we give all of those guys a physical when they come as well.”

How important is keeping Jahri Evans and the offensive line together?

“He’s a high priority. Jahri has developed himself into being one of the best – if not the best – offensive guards in the National Football League. Clearly we want to keep him here. Not just because he’s a great player, but because of the type of person that he is. He’s one of these players that exemplifies what we want to bring here. We’ll see if we can get that done in the near-term.”

How have the conversations been with him and his agent?

“It has been very positive.”

With the 32nd pick in the first round, has there been more consideration and discussion of possibly trading that pick this year?

“It’s too early to do that. I think that we’ve shown in our history that we’re not afraid to trade up, trade down, trade out, trade for a player. We’ve exercised all of those options over the years and we’ll do the same, but it’s really too early start talking about that with other teams.”

Do you think things will change with the Restricted Free Agent (RFA) this year from past years?

“We’re evaluating that. We’ve gone through every restricted free agent available and the compensation attached to them, so we’re evaluating that. I’m not going to disclose that we are or we aren’t going to exercise that opportunity.”

With as many key players that you have that are RFAs, a lot of people speculated that other teams would jump on them early. Do you think the RFA market is more of a timetable thing?

“I think the RFA market doesn’t really heat up until after the initial Unrestricted Free Agent market cools down. The timing for that is probably in the upcoming weeks as opposed to the week or so that has just ended. Whether that’s greater than it has been in the past, I don’t know. I’m as anxious to find out as you are. The good news is that we have a right of first refusal on all of our Restricted Free Agents first and if we elect not to exercise that, then there’s going to be compensation attached to most of them, and in some cases some very high compensation. We’ll make those decisions as they come about.”

Are you curious to see if anyone will use the so-called “poison pill” in an RFA contract?

“I’m not worried about that. If it happens, it happens and we’ll address it at the time. I don’t spend a lot of time contemplating the ‘what ifs’ in that scenario.”

Do you envision signing your RFAs to long-term deals in the coming weeks or would you wait until later?

“I think for the most part, those discussions will happen after a bit of time goes by. I can’t give you a specific timeframe, but it will be later rather than sooner.”

Will Reggie Bush be back? And will he be back at his current salary?

“Yes. He’ll be back and he’ll be back at his current salary.”

What goes into the decision as to what level to tender different RFAs at?

“There are a lot of variables that go into that decision. The primary variable for me is what gives us – the New Orleans Saints – the best opportunity to get that player signed to a multi-year deal? That’s the thing that I start with, and then it’s a matter of production. How likely is it that the player will get an offer from another team? What’s the position? Who do we have on our roster that if we lost the player we could replace him with? There are a lot of variables, but the primary one is what gives us the best chance to get the player signed to a multi-year deal.”

Have there been any contract talks with Brees on a raise?

“He has a contract for this year and for next year. That’s all I’m going to say about that.”

Would there be interest in giving him that raise sooner than later, or would there be difficulty in light of the uncertainty with the CBA?

“I’m not going to address that. I’ve said many times before that these contracts are personal issues for players. They’re business issues for our team, but they’re personal issues for our players. I don’t like the opportunity of talking about a specific player’s contract. I’ll talk about the principles behind RFA tenders and things like that, but until these things are completed I’m not going to discuss them.”

Do you like the idea of the Draft being split up over three days?

"That’s a good question. I don’t know because we haven’t gone through this before. This will be unique. When I think about it, one of the things that happens is that between Day One and Day Two, you reevaluate your board and you reevaluate the things that have happened, and all of a sudden the first picks the next day become more valuable. Instead of having one day of that, we now have two days of that so it will be interesting to see the activity that happens overnight on both of those days at the top of the next round.”

Do you think there will be more trades?

“There could be. It will certainly lead to more calls. But it will be interesting to see how that plays out.”

Is the time around the Draft a fun time of year for you or just a lot of stress?

“We look forward to it. It’s exciting to have new players come into your program. It’s the culmination of a year’s worth of work for our college scouting staff and our coaches are involved, so it’s an exciting time; it really is.”

At the Super Bowl, you said that you guys were a little behind but now you’ve said that you’re up to date. How have you been able to catch up?

“Really we were behind in terms of free agency more than anything else. The college staff and Rick Reiprish and his area scouts have done a good job. They didn’t miss any time except for the four or five days that they were at the Super Bowl. They’ve been on top of it. When I said ‘behind,’ it meant that I wasn’t able to participate in some of their meetings in January and February and we would have already have had meetings with our coaches and college scouts and pro personnel people, so we’ve been able to catch up and have those meetings in terms of the pro free agents. We’re caught up in that regard. The other thing that helps us is the rules in the sense that we weren’t able to be a participant in the opening days of free agency. Even though we were behind, there wasn’t a whole lot we could do about it anyway.”

With so many big-name veteran players being released this year, how do you balance going after the “quick-fix” with an older player or going after a younger player with more years in his future?

“We’re not opposed to players that have a lot of experience in the league. We’ve shown that and we’ve had success with that – Darren Sharper being ‘exhibit A’. But it all comes down to value. Are we getting the right value for that particular player? When you look at an older player, you have to look at the investment. If you’re making an up-front investment, how likely is it that he’s going to play for your team for the length of the contract? We have to pay attention to all of that and we do. We’re not always right but those are the kinds of things that we pay attention to. With a younger player, you don’t have as much concern about them being able to play at a high level throughout the contract and therefore your investment up front might be a little greater.”

When you’re evaluating a veteran player, do you have in mind a minimum number of years that you want him to be productive?

“I would say no, because that could be one year. It could be a player that we think can come in and help us this year or it may be a guy that we’re counting on two or three years from. It just depends on the individual.”