The Saints Aren't Leaving New Orleans - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

Since Hurricane Katrina, the Saints have been rumored to be on the outs from New Orleans. Los Angeles, San Antonio, Berlin in the NFL Europa 2.0 league -- most people have been placing the future of the team in cities that aren't New Orleans (maybe that last one was made up).

Those rumors, in Katrina's wake, were justified -- and if insiders are to be believed, Tom Benson's plan to upheave the Saints to San Antonio was far more reality than rumor. Just google "New Orleans' crumbling economy can't meet the financial demands of a pro football team," and you'll get plenty of results arguing for relocation.

But those rumors haven't died even though the NFL, from the waaaay back days of Paul Tagliabue, has committed over and over to keeping the Saints in New Orleans for the long haul. When the specs were unveiled last month for the beautiful new stadium potentially coming to Los Angeles, some media reports had the Saints as potential tenants despite two consecutive season ticket sell-outs.

But the team isn't going anywhere.

Local cynicism has remained even though everybody in charge was saying the right things -- the city has taken on that "we'll believe it when we see it" attitude. But a significant event occurred last week when Benson agreed to purchase WVUE, Louisiana's Fox affiliate. Let's be honest here -- no matter how any press release glamorizes the purchase, there's a whole lot that Benson will benefit from with the acquisition, and not just financially. It will be nice for Benson to be able to not only air his team's games but control much of the local exposure they get as well. But this is a significant commitment from Benson and the Saints to the city, for obvious reasons.

But there's still that pesky contract that only keeps the Saints in New Orleans through 2010. That looming end, despite productive talks between the team and the state, is still staring everyone in the face, especially since Benson wants a new stadium which the state may or may not be willing/able to provide. But in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Mayor Nagin notes that he's confident that, regarding an extension, the two sides are "going to get that done really soon. He says that once the extension comes the team will be "locked in for many, many years" and expresses hope for a Super Bowl soon after the extension is finalized.

Now of course, he's a politician (and a bad one, at that), so take all of this with whatever size grain of salt you prefer. And bemoan the fact that these men aren't the great, kind souls they'd like us to believe -- this is all happening because it's in their best interests, not New Orleans'; if moving would have been better for the team and city government they'd allow it to happen and then kick you in the face for complaining. But, still, the Saints are in New Orleans to stay. Isn't that what matters?