The Saints have signed 28-year old OG Ben Grubbs to a 5-year, $36 million dollar contract.  Grubbs played in 10 games (0 starts) for the Ravens last year.  He has now played in 74 games (70 starts) in his first five years in the NFL.  Grubbs will replace Carl Nicks in the starting lineup after Nicks skipped town to sign with the division rival Tampa Bay Bucs.  This was a smart move for the Saints as Grubbs is a pretty darn good blocker.

The Saints have re-signed 28-year old WR Marques Colston to a 5-year, $40 million dollar deal.  Colston played in 14 games for the Saints last year and he caught 80 passes for 1,143 yards (14.3 avg) with 8 TD grabs.  Colston has now played in 86 games in his first six years with the Saints and he has caught 449 passes for 6,240 yards (13.9 avg) with 48 TD grabs.  Colston is #3 all-time in Saints’ history in both receptions (449) and receiving yards (6,240).  He is also tied with Eric Martin for #2 all-time in Saints’ TD receptions with 48 of them.  This was a great move for the Saints and it has to make Drew Brees’ happy.

The Saints have re-signed 25-year old QB Chase Daniel to a 1-year, #1 million dollar deal.  Daniel played in all 16 games (mostly as the holder) and he completed 4 of 5 passes (80%) for 29 yards without a TD or INT (90.8 QB Rating).  Daniel only carried the ball 3 times for -3 yards (-1.0 ypc) last year.  Daniel has now played in 29 games in his first two years with the Saints and he has completed 6 of 8 (75%) for 45 yards without a TD or pickoff (88.0 QB Rating). Daniel has also carried the ball 5 times for 13 yards (2.6 ypc) so far in his NFL career.  The Saints hope that Daniel’s only roles in 2012 with be holding on kicks and kneeling on the ball at the end of games.

The Saints have re-signed 26-year old DE Turk McBride to a 1-year deal.  He played in 8 games for the Saints last year and he had 4 tackles, 2 sacks and 1 forced fumble.  McBride has now played in 59 games in his first five years in the NFL and he has 119 tackles, 9.5 sacks, 9 tackles for a loss, 6 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries and 1 pass defensed.  This was a smart move for the Saints as McBride gives them solid depth at DE.

The Saints have re-signed 26-year old center Brian De La Puente.  De La Puente played in 16 games (12 starts) for the Saints last year.  He was on the Chiefs in 2008 but he didn’t play any games.  This was a smart move for the Saints as De La Puente exceeded all expectations that they had for him in 2012.

The Saints have re-signed 23-year old safety Jonathon Amaya to a 1-year deal.  Amaya played in all 16 games for the Saints last year and he had 14 tackles and 2 forced fumbles.  He has now played in 26 games in his first two years in the NFL and he has 29 tackles and 2 forced fumbles.  Amaya will give the Saints depth at safety while also helping out on special teams in 2012.  Amaya is best known as being part of the return in the deal that sent Reggie Bush to Miami.

The Saints have re-signed 24-year old long snapper Justin Drescher to a 1-year, $540,000 dollar deal.  He played in all 16 games (0 starts) for the Saints last year.  He has now played in 22 games (0 starts) in his first two years with the Saints.  This was a good move for the Saints as Drescher is a pretty solid long snapper.

The Saints have re-signed 26-year old WR Adrian Arrington.  Arrington played in 4 games for the Saints last year and he caught 2 passes for 31 yards (15.5 avg).  He has now played in 5 games in his first two years with the Saints and he has caught 9 passes for 110 yards (12.2 avg).  The Saints are likely going to have some defections in free agency so it was smart to bring Arrington back for 2012.

This was an epic game as 4 touchdowns were scored in the last four minutes of the game. The Saints took the lead late in this game but their defense just couldn’t hold it. The 49ers drove 85 yards on 7 plays to score a TD with 9 seconds left on a 14-yard Alex Smith pass to TE Vernon Davis to crush the Saints’ hopes and send them home a loser.

Drew Brees will have to ice his arm after today as he completed 40 of 63 passes for 462 yards with 4 TD passes and 2 INTs. Chris Ivory led the way on the ground for the Saints in this game with 23 yards on 9 carries (2.6 ypc). Darren Sproles only rushed for 3 yards on 3 carries (1.0 ypc) today, but he also caught an amazing 15 passes for 119 yards (7.9 avg) with 1 TD grab. WR Marques Colston (9 rec, 136 yards, TD) and TE Jimmy Graham (5 rec, 103 yards, 2 TD grabs) led the way for the Saints in the passing game today. Devery Henderson pitched in with 4 grabs for 49 yards (12.3 avg). The Saints finished up with 37 yards rushing on 14 carries (2.6 ypc) and they completed 40 of 63 passes (63.5%) for 435 yards as the had possession of the ball for 31:20.

The defense was pretty awful in this game, especially late for the Saints. Safeties Malcolm Jenkins (8 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 pass defensed and 1 QB hit) and Roman Harper (8 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 pass defensed and 1 QB hit) led the way for the Saints today. DE Cameron Jordan (6 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 pass defensed and 1 QB hit) and LB Martez Wilson (3 tackles, 1.5 sacks and 1 tackle for a loss) also pitched in for the Saints in this game. The 49ers finished up with 143 yards rushing on 22 carries (6.5 ypc) and they also completed 24 of 42 passes (57.1%) for 264 yards in this game. The Saints had another solid season but it ends with a thud at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers.

The Saints didn’t get a lot of production out of their rookies last year. Here is a look at how the rookies played during the regular season:

22-year old DE Cameron Jordan was picked in the first round by the Saints last April. He played in all 16 games for the Saints this year and he had 31 tackles, 1 sack, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 fumble recovery and 5 passes defensed. Jordan will likely be a starter down the road for the Saints.

The Saints dealt back into the first round to take 22-year old RB Mark Ingram. Ingram played in 10 games for the Saints this year and he carried the ball 122 times for 474 yards (3.9 ypc) with 5 TD runs. He also caught 11 passes for 46 yards (4.2 ypc) this year. Ingram’s season ended early due to toe surgery.

23-year old LB Martez Wilson was picked in the 3rd round by the Saints. He played in 13 games for the Saints this year and he had 10 tackles and 1 sack. He’s likely to have a much bigger role down the road for the Saints.

23-year old CB Johnny Patrick was also a 3rd round pick. He played in 9 games for the Saints this year and he had only 5 tackles.

23-year old DE Greg Romeus was a 7th round pick. He spent his whole rookie year on I.R. with a knee injury.

22-year old LB Nate Bussey was also a 7th round pick. He didn’t play in any games for the Saints as a rookie.

GRADE FOR 2011: D

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE: C