38-year old WR Joe Horn signed a 1-day contract with the Saints so he could retire from them.  Horn played in 102 games (100 starts) in seven years for the Saints and he caught 523 passes for 7,622 yards (14.6 avg) with 50 TD grabs.  Horn made 4 Pro Bowls for the Saints and he is the all time leader in franchise history in TD grabs (50).  Horn is also #2 in receptions and receiving yards behind Eric Martin in Saints’ history.  Horn played in 163 games overall in his NFL career and he caught 603 passes for 8,744 yards (14.5 avg) with 58 TD grabs.  Joe Horn retires as one of the best Saints’ players in team history.

The Saints have released 28-year old DE Bobby McCray.  McCray played in all 16 games for the Saints last season in which he had 12 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks and 1 pass defensed.  He played in 32 games in his two years with the Saints and he had 41 tackles, 7.5 sacks, 1 pass defensed and he forced 1 fumble.  McCray was a decent player for the Saints but they have other players on the roster that they like more than him making him expendable.

UPDATE:  (7/22/2010) - The Saints have re-signed Bobby McCray to a 1-year, $1.5 million dollar deal with an exta $1 million bucks in incentives.  The only reason the Saints released McCray in the first place was because they didn’t want to pay him a $1.25 million dollar roster bonus.

25-year old Pierre Thomas has really emerged after signing as a undrafted free agent out of Illinois three years ago.  He played in 14 games (6 starts) for the Saints last season and he carried the ball 147 times for 793 yards (5.4 ypc) with 6 TD runs.  Thomas also caught 39 passes for 302 yards (7.7 avg) with 2 TD grabs last year.  Thomas has now played in 41 games (12 starts) in his three years with the Saints and he has carried the ball 328 times for 1,670 yards (5.1 ypc) with 16 TD runs.  He also has caught 87 passes for 737 yards (8.5 avg) with 6 TD grabs in his NFL career.  Thomas is the tough guy of the Saints’ RBs as he likes to run downhill.  They need to keep him healthy in 2010.

25-year old Reggie Bush is back for more in 2010.  He played in 14 games (8 starts) last season for the Saints in which he carried the ball 70 times for 390 yards (5.6 ypc) with 5 TD runs.  Bush also caught 47 passes for 335 yards (7.1 avg) with 3 TD grabs and he returned 27 punts for 130 yards (4.8 avg).  Bush has now played in 52 games (35 starts) in his four years with the Saints and he has carried the ball 488 times for 1,940 yards (4.0 ypc) with 17 TD runs.  Bush has also caught 260 passes for 1,934 yards (7.4 avg) with 11 TD grabs.  Bush has also returned 78 punts for 628 yards (8.1 avg) with 4 TD returns.  The Saints would probably be smart to find someone else to return punts because Bush’s focus needs to be on offense in 2010.

24-year old Lynell Hamilton got his first real action in the NFL last season.  Prior to last year, Hamilton played in 1 game in which he didn’t even touch the football.  Hamilton played in 9 games (1 start) for the Saints last season in which he carried the ball 35 times for 125 yards (3.6 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also caught 5 passes for 48 yards (9.6 avg) last year.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE SAINTS RBs in 2010:  B-

The Saints have traded 29-year old OT Jammal Brown to the Washington Redskins.  Brown missed all of last season due to injuries.  He played in 58 games (all starts) in his five years with the Saints.  The Saints will also send a conditional late round pick to the Redskins as part of this deal.  The Saints will get a 4th round pick if the Redskins win 9 or more games OR Donovan McNabb makes the Pro Bowl.  If neither of those things happen the Saints will get a third round pick from the Redskins.  The Redskins will also send the Saints a future 6th round pick if Brown plays in 90% or more of the offensive snaps in 2010 or he makes the Pro Bowl.  That’s not bad compensation for a player who missed the whole 2010 NFL season.

31-year old Drew Brees is coming off a season for the ages.  He played in 15 games for the Saints last season and he completed 363 of 514 passes (70.6%) for 4,388 yards with 34 TD passes and 11 INTs (109.6 QB Rating).  Brees also carried the ball 22 times for 33 yards (1.5 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  Brees has now played in 122 games in his NFL career and he has completed 2,697 of 4,164 passes (64.8%) for 30,646 yards with 202 TD passes and 110 INTs (91.9 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 244 times for 482 yards (2.0 ypc) with 7 TD runs in his career.  Brees now has a 68-53 record (56.2%) as a starting QB during the regular season and he hopes to improve on that W-L% again this year.  The Saints really have no backup plan around Brees so it’s imperative that they block well for him.

23-year old Chase Daniel and 7th round pick Sean Canfield will battle it out in training camp for the #2 and #3 QB job unless the Saints bring in some competition for them in free agency.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE SAINTS QBs in 2010:  A+