The Saints have re-signed 24-year old linebacker Jonathan Casillas to a 1-year deal.  Casillas played in 13 games for the Saints last year and he had 43 tackles, 3 sacks and 2 passes defensed.  He has now played in 24 games in his first two years with the Saints and he has 63 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 passes defensed and 1 tackle for a loss.  This was a good move as Casillas is a pretty solid player, who showed nice improvement in his second year in the NFL in 2011.

The Saints have re-signed 42-year old kicker John Kasay.  Kasay played in all 16 games for the Saints last year and he made 28 of 34 (82.4%) field goals and all 63 of his extra points, good for 147 points.  He has now played in 301 games in his first 20 years in the NFL and he has made 461 of 563 field goals (81.9%) and 587 of 598 extra points, good for 1,970 points.  Kasay is now #6 in NFL history in field goals made (461) and he is #12 in extra points made (587) in NFL history.  Kasay will battle Garrett Hartley for the starting kicker job in training camp.

The Saints traded up to get Mark Ingram last year in the NFL Draft and they lost a pick in bounty gate, so they aren’t picking until the 3rd round of the 2012 NFL Draft and they only have five overall picks.  Here is who I see the Saints picking in my mock 2012 NFL Draft found on bloglockers.com:

3. (89) Tyrone Crawford, DE, Boise State

4. (122) Leonard Johnson, CB, Iowa State

5. (162) Danny Coale, WR, Virginia Tech

6. (179) Eddie Pleasant, SS, Oregon

7. (234) Chase Keenum, QB, Houston

The Saints have re-signed WR/KR Courtney Roby to a 1-year deal.  Roby played in all 16 games for the Saints last year and he had 8 tackles.  Roby has now played in 49 games in his first four years with the Saints and he caught 1 pass for 6 yards.  He also has returned 94 kickoffs for 2,411 yards (25.6 avg) with 1 TD return and he has 33 tackles and 2 fumble recoveries.  Roby is a good special teams player, so I like the fact that the Saints are bringing him back for the 2012 season.

The Saints got drilled by bounty gate as they lost draft picks, coaches and likely some players for the 2012 season.  They have spent the off-season trying to rebuild the defense while keeping some key offensive players.  Here’s a look at who is coming or staying in town in 2012:

Offensively:  The Saints slapped the franchise tag on QB Drew Brees and they re-signed his favorite WR Marques Colston.  The Saints have also signed starting center Brian De La Puente and they signed guard Ben Grubbs to replace Carl Nicks (signed with the Bucs) in the starting lineup.  The Saints have also re-signed QB Chase Daniels and WR Adrian Arrington to provide depth in 2012.

Defensively:  The Saints are worried about their linebackers getting suspended so they went out and signed LBs Curtis Lofton, David Hawthorne and Chris Chamberlain.  The Saints also signed DT Brodrick Bunkley to help out on the interior of the D-Line in 2012.  The Saints also re-signed DE Turk McBride and safety Jonathan Amaya to give the Saints some depth on D.

Special Teams:  The Saints have re-signed long snapper Justin Drescher.

GRADE SO FAR THIS OFF-SEASON:  B

The Saints have signed 26-year old linebacker David Hawthorne to a 5-year deal.  He played in 15 games for the Seahawks last year and he had 115 tackles, 2 sacks, 7 tackles for a loss, 1 fumble recovery, 3 interceptions (one returned for a TD) and 6 passes defensed.  Hawthorne has now played in 61 games in his first four years in the NFL and he has 350 tackles, 33 tackles for a loss, 6 sacks, 5 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries, 7 interceptions (one returned for a TD) and 18 passes defensed.  This was another great pickup for the Saints as they brace for suspensions due to bounty gate.  Locking up Curtis Lofton and David Hawthorne were great moves for the Saints moving forward.

The Saints have signed 25-year old inside linebacker Curtis Lofton to a 5-year deal.  Lofton played in all 16 games for the rival Atlanta Falcons last year and he had 147 tackles, 8 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, 7 passes defensed and 2 interceptions (one returned for a TD).  Lofton has now played in 64 games in his first four years in the NFL and he has 492 tackles, 4 sacks, 18 tackles for a loss, 7 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, 15 passes defensed and 3 interceptions (one returned for a TD).  This was a great signing for the Saints as Lofton is one of the better run defending linebackers in the entire NFL.  By signing Lofton, they also created a huge hole in the middle of the Falcons’ D.

The Saints have signed 26-year old OLB Chris Chamberlain to a 3-year deal.  Chamberlain played in all 16 games for the Rams last year and he had 80 tackles, 2 sacks, 5 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble, 1 interception and 1 pass defensed.  He has now played in 59 games in his first four years in the NFL and he has 148 tackles, 2 sacks, 6 tackles for a loss, 3 forced fumbles, 1 interception and 3 passes defensed.  This was a good move for the Saints as they are likely going to face some suspensions defensively at some point this year.

The New Orleans Saints have been nailed due to the bounty program installed during defensive co-ordinator Gregg Williams.  Williams (now the Rams’ D-Co-Ordinator) has been suspended indefinitely by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.  Goodell also suspended Saints’ head coach Sean Payton for the 2012 season.  The 48-year old Payton led the Saints to a 13-3 regular season record last year and a 1-1 record in the post-season.  Payton is now 62-34 (64.6%) in his first six years with the Saints during the regular season and he is 5-3 (62.5%) in the post-season.  Payton led the Saints to a Super Bowl win back in 2009 over the Colts.  Either Offensive Co-Ordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. or 52-year old Defensive Co-Ordintator Steve Spagnuolo will take over for Payton as the interim head coach in 2012.  Carmichael has never been a head coach in the NFL.  Spagnuolo led the St. Louis Rams to a 2-14 record last year.  He is 10-38 (20.8%) in his first three years as an NFL head coach (all with the Rams).  Saints’ General Manager Mickey Loomis has been suspended for 8 games.  Assistant Coach Joe Vitt has been suspended for six games.  The Saints have been $500,000 bucks and they will lose 2nd round picks in both the 2012 and 2013 NFL Drafts.  The Saints got nailed hard for their trangressions and it could get worse as the NFL is looking into suspending some players down the road.

The Saints have signed 28-year old DT Brodrick Bunkley to a 5-year, $25 million dollar deal with $9 million bucks guaranteed.  Bunkley played in all 16 games for the Broncos last year and he had 43 tackles and 3 tackles for a loss.  Bunkley has now played in 92 games in his first six years in the NFL and he has 187 tackles, 6 sacks, 18 tackles for a loss, 3 fumble recoveries and 7 passes defensed.  This was a good move for the Saints as Bunkley will help out on the interior of the D-Line.