The Saints have signed 27-year old fullback Korey Hall.  Hall played in 12 games (6 starts) for the Packers last season but he didn’t get to carry the football.  Hall did catch 1 pass for 9 yards last year.  Hall has now played in 48 games (26 starts) in his first four years in the NFL and he has yet to carry the football.  He has caught 21 passes for 137 yards (6.5 avg) with 1 TD grab in his NFL career.  Hall’s main job with the Saints is going to be blocking and that is something he’s pretty good at.

The Saints have signed 28-year old OT Alex Barron.  Barron played in 11 games (1 start) for the Cowboys was last year.  He has now played in 87 games (75 starts) in his first six years in the NFL.  Barron will give the Saints nice depth at OT in 2011 as he can play either side.  This is another solid move for the Saints.

UPDATE:  (9/18/2011) – The Saints have placed Alex Barron on the Injured Reserve List ending his 2011 season.  He had surgery on one of his knees last week.

UPDATE II (10/22/2011) – The Saints have released Alex Barron with an injury settlement.

The Saints have signed 27-year old safety Paul Oliver to a 1-year deal.  Oliver played in all 16 games for the Chargers last year and he had 62 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 forced fumble, 2 fumble recoveries, 3 passes defensed and 1 interception.  Oliver has now played in 44 games in his first three years in the NFL and he has 126 tackles, 1 sack, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble, 3 fumble recoveries, 7 passes defensed and 3 interceptions.  This was another good signing as the Saints continue to improve their team in free agency.

UPDATE:  (9/3/2011) – The Saints have placed Paul Oliver on the Injured Reserve List due to an undisclosed injury.

The Saints have signed 30-year old DT Aubrayo Franklin to a 1-year deal.  Franklin played in all 16 games for the 49ers last year and he had 39 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 fumble recovery and 1 pass defensed.  He has now played in 98 games in his first 8 years in the NFL and he has 187 tackles, 14 tackles for a loss, 4 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, 8 passes defensed and 1 interception.  This was a good signing for the Saints as Franklin is a solid DT.

The Saints have signed 28-year old linebacker Clint Ingram to a 1-year deal.  Ingram played in 13 games for the Jaguars last year and he had 52 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss and 1 sack.  He has now played in 56 games in his first 4 years in the NFL and he has 194 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss, 5.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 4 passes defensed and 2 interceptions (one returned for a TD).  Ingram will give the Saints solid depth at inside linebacker in 2010.

UPDATE:  (9/4/2011) – The Saints have released Clint Ingram.

The Saints have signed 26-year old DE Turk McBride.  He played in 15 games for the Lions last year and he had 33 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery.  McBride has now played in 51 games in his first four years in the NFL and he has 115 tackles, 9 tackles for a loss, 7.5 sacks, 5 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries and 1 pass defensed.  McBride will give the Saints some decent depth at DE as he played the best football of his career in 2010 for the Lions.

The Saints have signed 28-year old cornerback Fabian Washington to a 1-year deal.  Washington played in 14 games for the Ravens last year and he had 31 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and he defensed 8 passes.  Washington has now played in 81 games in his first 6 years in his NFL career and he has 221 tackles, 4 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, 57 passes defensed and 6 interceptions.  Washington should be able to help out the Saints’ secondary depth wise as he has a lot of experience.

UPDATE:  (9/1/2011) – The Saints have placed Fabian Washington on Injured Reserve, ending his 2011 season.

The Saints have signed 28-year old RB Darren Sproles to a 4-year, $14 million dollar deal.  Sproles played in 16 games (3 starts) for the Chargers last year in which he carried the ball 50 times for 267 yards (5.3 ypc) and he also caught 59 passes for 520 yards (8.8 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Sproles also returned 24 punts for 166 yards (6.9 avg) and 51 kickoffs for 1,257 yards (24.6 avg) last year.  Sproles has played in 78 games (5 starts) in his first 5 years in the NFL in which he has carried the ball 249 times for 1,154 yards (4.6 ypc) with 6 TD runs and he has also caught 146 passes for 1,400 yards (9.6 avg) with 11 TD grabs.  Sproles also has returned 114 punts for 935 yards (8.2 avg) with 2 TD returns and he also returned 258 kickoffs for 6,469 yards (25.1 avg) with 2 TD returns.  This was a great signing for the Saints as Sproles is an even more dynamic player than Reggie Bush.

The Saints have signed 27-year old OLB Will Herring to a 3-year deal.  Herring played in 15 games for the Seahawks last year and he had 36 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 1 interception and he defensed 2 passes.  Herring has played in 54 games in his first four years in the NFL and he has 109 tackles, 7 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, forced 2 fumbles, recovered 1 fumble, has 1 interception and he has defensed 3 passes.  Herring is a solid backup linebacker who helps out on special teams.  This was a good signing for the Saints.

The Saints have signed 31-year old NT/DT Shaun Rogers to a 1-year, $4 million dollar deal.  Rogers played in 15 games for the Browns last season and he had 17 tackles, 2 sacks and 1 tackle for a loss.  Rogers has now played in 140 games in his NFL career and he has 482 tackles, 37.5 sacks, 26 passes defensed, 4 forced fumbles and 1 interception (he returned it 66 yards for a TD).  Rogers should improve the interior of the D and run defense as he stands 6’4″, 350 pounds.  He will demand a double team, making life a lot easier for Jonathan Vilma in 2011.  I really like this signing for the Saints.