Hi everyone. This is Times-Picayune deputy sports editor Kevin Spain with Saints beat writers Jimmy Smith and Mike Triplett here to talk to you about the Saints. Let's talk draft, camp and your questions on the upcoming season.

                  MIKE TRIPLETT: The Saints still haven’t released the list because they wait until the contracts are all signed. But these are some of the names that have been reported already:

                  LSU LB Luke Sanders, Houston LB/S Rocky Schwartz, TCU S David Roach, Stanford QB T.C. Ostrander, UNLV DE Jeremy Geathers, Boston College LB Jo-Lonn Dunbar and I believe San Diego State RB Lynell Hamilton.

MIKE TRIPLETT: I don’t think the Saints were ever as serious about Lito Sheppard as they were about Shockey – if they were interested at all. Saints Coach Sean Payton implied that those reports might have gotten exaggerated to drum up the trade interest around the league. … Now that the Saints added Tracy Porter and have seven cornerbacks on the roster, I don’t see much interest in Sheppard.

MIKE TRIPLETT: Sure, why not keep the streak alive? … The Saints really have proven over the last two years that they will evaluate every guy on the field without any bias or prejudice about how they got here. Marques Colston and Pierre Thomas are the prime examples. And what’s interesting is that the Saints are able to use those guys as sales pitches when they try to get these guys to sign here.

The problem will be finding roster spots. The Saints have a pretty deep and loaded roster right now. … But injuries always creep up.

MIKE TRIPLETT: Hey Jarrad. I think the Saints could have made room for an upgrade, if they had drafted a ready-made outside linebacker in Round 1 or 2. But they took care of their “insurance policies” in free agency. Remember, they re-signed Mark Simoneau, who can fill in at middle linebacker or weakside linebacker, and they still have Scott Shanle, who started at weakside linebacker the last two years … plus Troy Evans and Marvin Mitchell.

I agree that they need to get better at that position. And they are gambling that Vilma and Morgan will be the guys to do that. But a late-round flier wasn’t going to be a better fallback option than Shanle or Simoneau.

By the way, as I've said several times on these chats, I'm expecting big, big things from Vilma this year.

JIMMY SMITH: The one that comes to mind most immediately, Andrew A, would be a younger and slimmer Hollis Thomas. We've made those comparisons to Thomas with Ellis for the last week, even before the Saints made him their No. 1 pick. Ellis can collapse the pocket in the middle of the line to disrupt passers and we've seen Thomas do that when he was in the game in non-pass-rush situations. Ellis is also said be an active run-stuffer. It will be interesting to see the two side-by-side in an on-field situation.

MIKE TRIPLETT: Arrington slipped in the draft because of some character concerns (not too serious, though, it seems) and maybe because he’s a little one-dimensional as a receiver. He’s very big with good hands, but he’s not exceptionally fast or versatile. I also don’t think he projects as much of a special-teams asset, so he would need to make the team as a top-three or top-four receiver, which will be difficult.

I think his size could help him stand out, though. I haven’t seen him stand next to Robert Meachem, but I assume he’s bigger than any of the Saints receivers, outside of Colston. And like we said before, the Saints are always willing to go with a guy if he looks great in camp, no matter what round they drafted him in.

JIMMY SMITH:      By sheer numbers, Paul, you would have to think that the Saints have more than adequately addressed their cornerback deficiencies. Randall Gay, Aaron Glenn and Tracy Porter are three more bodies, though we won't likely be seeing Fred Thomas around any more. Whether these additions can be upgrades, however, remains to be seen. We won't really be able to answer that accurately until training camp this summer.

MIKE TRIPLETT: Yes. The Saints weren’t reaching to fill their biggest need when they drafted Porter. He had the highest grade of any player on the board at the time. It was a bonus that he just happened to fill their biggest need.

The Saints aren’t desperate at tight end. Yes, Payton would love to upgrade with Jeremy Shockey. But a second-round pick wouldn’t necessarily have been any better than Eric Johnson, Mark Campbell or Billy Miller. … One of these days they do need to find a guy they can develop, though.

MIKE TRIPLETT: Hey Mike, I think the Saints definitely like Dorsey enough to trade next year’s first-round pick for him. They were the ones that made the offer to Kansas City, and Kansas City turned them down. I don’t know the exact details of the offer, but it included next year’s first and another pick in this year’s draft, with the Chiefs sending back a lower-round pick or two.

I don’t think Kansas City even bothered making a counter-offer because they really wanted to keep Dorsey. They were pretty lucky to get him with the fifth pick.

That all being said, I think the Saints were thrilled to get Ellis since he only cost them a third-round pick. They had him graded pretty close with Dorsey, and their main goal in this draft was to wind up with one of the two. … They probably sent a gift basket to the Rams and Falcons for passing on Dorsey and allowing that to happen.

MIKE TRIPLETT: Hey Ray, these guys haven’t been on the field yet. We’ll get our first look at them in a couple weeks when they start their OTAs. But all reports on Meachem have been pretty glowing so far. And I’m personally impressed with his attitude and his decision to seek out veteran David Patten as a workout mentor this offseason. Patten is one of the hardest workers in the game.

Meachem was picked in the first round last year for a reason, so there’s definitely some real talent there. Confidence (and health) will be the big issues. But I can definitely see him winning that No. 3 receiver job this year.

MIKE TRIPLETT: Hey Jeremy, we should find out more about Vilma – and Morgan, for that matter – once the OTAs start. … His health is definitely a concern. He had an unusual knee surgery – grafting a piece of bone from another part of his body to replace a piece of dead bone in his knee. Of course there could be complications. But the injury itself is an issue he’s been playing through for a long time, so the Saints are optimistic.

My outlook on him is, of course, assuming he’s healthy. He could be the defense’s version of Drew Brees two years ago.

MIKE TRIPLETT: I wouldn’t kick Gramatica out of town just yet. I think the Saints really liked him after his brief audition last December. I just think they’re tired of messing around with that position. They’ve used four different guys over the last two years, and they want some security.

It’s also possible that both guys stick on the roster. Mehlhaff has a big leg and could become a kickoff specialist/long field-goal kicker.

MIKE TRIPLETT: Hey Mike, Great Name! Maybe we’re related.

Nicks has the most potential of any of the Saints’ Day 2 draft choices. At one point in January, he was being ranked alongside some of the first-round tackles in this year’s draft class. He’s got some character concerns and some work-ethic concerns, so he’s hardly a sure thing. But he knows he’s on a short leash, so he should be motivated. I wouldn’t expect anything from him this year, but he could develop into a powerful run-blocker, either at right tackle or guard.

JIMMY SMITH: Hey, Chuck, did you see the way Shaun Alexander played against the Saints this year? Would you rather have an aging Alexander or a young Pierre Thomas. That seems to be a no-brainer.

MIKE TRIPLETT: Hey Brian and Derrick and Ross, I think the Saints will be OK at running back. I think they had good enough depth last year when Deuce went down. I just think their biggest mistake was that they moved Reggie Bush inside to replace him and dumbed down their offense as a result.

I think Deuce could still be good for 10 to 15 carries a game. But even if he can’t return to form, they could use Aaron Stecker and Pierre Thomas for 10 to 15 carries a game, with Reggie doing a little of everything. I don’t think that’s a weakness at all.

As for the Mehlhaff-Coutu thing, I think they liked the stronger leg.

And as for the golf thing, that was a monster drive on No. 9, Ross. Too bad you missed the eagle putt.

JIMMY SMITH: Patrick, Rhodes had a heck of a year for the Colts when they won the Super Bowl, but disappeared last year with the Raiders. Certainly there must have been a reason. Having not seen the Raiders that much, I couldn't venture an educated guess. It would be interesting to investigate, though.

MIKE TRIPLETT: Hey Peter, I really do think Smith is very good and very important to the defense. On a defense that desperately needs more disruptive playmakers at just about every position, he’s the guy they can least afford to lose. … If they let him go, how do they replace him? They’d have to make a deal like the one that Minnesota made to get Jarred Allen from Kansas City. They paid him more money than Smith will cost AND they gave up a first-round draft pick. … Not many guys of Smith’s caliber become available in free agency.

MIKE TRIPLETT: Hey LeVar, I think the Saints are thinking like you with Reggie. They want to maximize his potential and maximize their investment on him. I expect to see him returning more punts. … Last year, he was a little dinged-up, and he was too valuable to the offense after Deuce went down.

Tracy Porter could compete for a return-man role, too. Lance Moore is still a decent option, and Pierre Thomas can return kickoffs. … They should be a little better this year.