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.

Chris Henry. like a rash, just won't go away. The Bengals released him earlier this off-season after his 11th run-in with police since 2005. Apparently, the team draws the line at double-digit offenses. It's good to set boundaries.

At the time, I (half-kiddingly) speculated that Dallas seemed like the way-too-obvious next destination. Yeah, maybe I was onto something.

While we wait for this thing to sort itself out, Henry spoke to the media for the first time since the Bengals released him early last month. In case you're wondering, he's interested in playing for two teams above all others:

"There are two teams that I would always love to play for: That's New Orleans and Dallas," Henry said. "New Orleans is home for me. That's always been a big dream of mine. Hopefully I can get in there and sit down with the coaches and maybe have an opportunity to get down there. And Dallas is another team that I've always looked up to as a kid and wanted to play for them."

No word if either the Saints or the Cowboys are interested in talking to Henry, although it wouldn't surprise me if Jerry Jones is gassing up the team jet as I type this.

Even if another team gives him another chance to mess up, Henry's professional future will depend on the legal system and Roger Goodell. Assuming he can escape with probation or a fine, Henry will still have to get by the commissioner -- the same guy who suspended him for eight games in 2007.

The news that Shaun Alexander (pictured right) is visiting the Saints has been met with concern and the overwhelming sound of an entire city groaning at the same time.

The concern stems from the fact that people seem to believe that the news that the Saints are "interested" means that the good vibrations from Deuce McAllister's restructuring are over, that this is the beginning of Deuce's demise. The groaning because, well, Shaun Alexander?

But let's not overreact. This is just a (flat) tire kicking. Alexander is making visits, the Saints might need a back at some point. The two sides are familiarizing. That doesn't mean either will like what they find.

For Alexander, it doesn't make sense to sign with any team right now; his value is at its lowest. He'll wait until camp to capitalize on injuries, when he'll command more money. And if the Saints really had an interest in replacing Deuce, they would have surely been better off addressing the need in the draft or with a rookie free agent. They didn't bring a single back into the fold. Though I highly, highly doubt that this pairing will happen, it certainly could. But that would be the aftermath of McAllister's release (because of the health of his knee), not the cause of it.

Some of the last-minute rumor-mongering leading up to the first day of the draft had the Saints dangling All Pro left tackle Jammal Brown in trade talks with the Rams and Chiefs for their first-round picks, and the Eagles for Lito Sheppard. None happened, and Brown is still a Saint. Sean Payton insists it was never going to happen any other way.

"There is (so much) written leading up to the draft, and I bet it's about 50-percent accurate and 50-percent false," Payton said. "When it comes to a player like Jammal, I think it's a credit to him. ... but we're not interested in trading (him).

"I read a little bit of that, but you'll go crazy trying to pay attention to all of it. There was no interest on our part in trading him."

He may be telling the truth. I've got no knowledge of the situation (and very little knowledge in general). But I'm also not about to deem this an open and shut case. Simply, the team would never come out and say that it attempted to trade a player after failing, especially one as vital as Brown. That might create some acrimony, what scientists have dubbed the "Ocho Cinco Effect" (look it up in the next DSM).

But here's the truth -- Brown's knees have long-term uncertainty, he'll be looking for a big deal soon, and the team has stockpiled offensive tackles for what I believe are reasons that extend beyond the fact that it's good practice to build depth there. It might not be this year, but I don't think Brown is long for New Orleans.

It's not a big secret that the Texans were looking for a running back in the draft. They acquired West Virginia standout Steve Slaton in the third round as a change of pace back.

While discussing the NFL trend toward having at least one receiving-type playmaking RB, Texans offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan gave Reggie Bush a left handed compliment in the process (video above):

"I think Steve Slaton pretty much fits any offense to tell you the truth. The reason I think that is because he's a good runner, and a good enough runner can fit into any scheme. What we like most about Slaton, is I think he's got a chance to be a special-type player. You look at guys around the league like Kevin Faulk, a guy like Reggie Bush; guys who come in and fill a specific role on third downs.
...
I think when a guy is 197 pounds and if you look at the history throughout the NFL there are not too many guys that are first and second down player for long periods of time. When you look at a guy that people are projecting as a third down type guy or a change of pace guy I believe a lot of teams have more important needs that go early in the draft. One exception is Reggie Bush; he is the highest guy that I've seen go that is a third down type player. The third round is when these guys start popping out."

That's about as direct as the Texans have come to talking about why they didn't pick The! Best! Running Back! Evaaaar! that a lot of people thought was a no brainer pick in the 2006 draft.

I know that jockeying for position, strategery, deception, and manipulation are all par for the course in the NFL draft. So it's not exactly a head-turner when one team jumps ahead of another for a player they're both interested in. Three players, however, is a tad more interesting.

The Saints and Bengals both came into the draft with comparable needs, and the two coaching staffs have some sort of friendly bond, pairing together last summer for a couple of training camp scrimmages. But yesterday played out like a consistent bit of dueling, and the Saints won all three times.

The obvious battle was the one for Sedrick Ellis. It was no secret that both teams were gunning for Ellis, and the Saints beat the Bengals to him. The Saints then traded to move up two spots in the fifth and drafted defensive tackle DeMario Pressley right in front of the Bengals, forcing them to draft fellow tackle Jason Shirley, he of alcoholic infamy. Obviously the Bengals got flustered by the Saints thievery and took Shirley because he was the right position, if not the right personality. Finally, the Saints identified a player in the seventh who wouldn't reach them in free agency and traded a '09 pick to grab receiver Adrian Arrington. The next receiver taken? Mario Urrutia from Louisville, just seven picks later by -- you guessed it -- the Bengals.

It just seems a little too coincidental, doesn't it?

New Orleans Saints 2008 Draft Picks:

Round 1 (7): Sedrick Ellis, DT, USC
Round 2 (40): Tracy Porter, CB, Indiana
Round 5 (144): DeMario Pressley, DT, North Carolina St.
Round 5 (164): Carl Nicks, OT, Nebraska
Round 6 (178): Taylor Mehlhaff, K, Wisconsin
Round 7 (237): Adrian Arrington, WR, Michigan

The Good: The Saints needed to come out of the draft with either Glenn Dorsey or Ellis, and got Ellis at a great price. He's going to make an immediate impact for a defense which has long lacked a playmaker. Porter is an underrated corner who didn't get much exposure, but he's great at man coverage which plays right into the Saints' defensive scheme. Defensive tackle and cornerback were the team's biggest needs, and they addressed them well right away.

Arrington is already being saddled with Marques Colston comparisons -- he's got the size Colston has and a reputation for making tough catches and being reliable in the redzone, though overshadowed by Mario Manningham. The Saints targeted him as a free agent, but sensing he'd be selected before that traded a '09 sixth-rounder to get back into the seventh for him.

The Bad: While the Saints seemed to get great value in the fifth with Pressley (a projected second-rounder) and Nicks (third), they uncharacteristically went against their personnel philosophy. Both Nicks and Arrington had trouble with the law in college, and Pressley is known as talented but inconsistent with a questionable work ethic. The team has never drafted talent at the expense of character, but they took that risk here. They also could have afforded to add a linebacker with one of those late picks, but many teams shied away from that position, possibly indicating a simple lack of talent.

... and after all of that talk, Jeremy Shockey is still a Giant.

It was the Saints second-round pick, 40th overall, that has been linked to Shockey for, about, forever now. Each second that ticked off the clock reduced the chances of a trade being worked out, and with about 30 seconds left the Saints decided to hand the card in themselves for cornerback Tracy Porter.

The fact that the pick came in so late leads me to believe that the teams were furiously trying to work out a deal until the end. But Saints GM Mickey Loomis is a stickler; he sets a price and is tough to budge from it. I'd have to imagine the sticking point was an '09 pick -- Roman Harper, the original dealbreaker, was no longer necessary once the Giants drafted Kenny Phillips. The Saints have no third- or fourth- round picks this year to offer the team additionally, and I'd find it hard to believe both sides would have let the deal fall through over a fifth-round pick or later.

This doesn't necessarily mean Shockey will remain a Giant this year -- Randy Moss was dealt on Day 2 last year. I'd imagine these talks will continue into the summer for '09 compensation, but the longer the talks go the less leverage the Giants have.

A lot of the talk leading up to the draft the last couple of weeks had to do with the Saints' frantic attempts to work a deal that would allow them to draft Glenn Dorsey.

They proved those reports correct, offering the Chiefs their 10th pick, their second-round pick (40th), and their first round pick in 2009 to move up to the Chiefs' spot. Despite Herm Edwards' insistence that the Chiefs would try to acquire more draft picks, that fortune was obviously not enough to dissuade them from taking Dorsey. If you're a Chiefs fan, I'm not sure how much you love that news, no matter how great Dorsey can be.

The Saints quickly went to Plan B, and worked a deal with the Patriots to move up for Sedrick Ellis, probably 1b on their board. They had to land one of those two tackles, and Ellis quickly becomes a quick impact player in a defense that's needed a powerful presence in the middle.

Ellis was recruited to USC by Ed Orgeron, who's now the Saints' defensive line coach, so there's a familiarity there on both sides. It would have been a nice story for the local product in Dorsey to stay in Louisiana, but Ellis will help the team a lot too. Defensive tackle was their biggest need by far, and credit the Saints for doing what it took to fill it.

Update: The Saints send their 10th overall pick and third-rounder to the Patriots for their 7th overall pick and a fifth-rounder.

USC defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis is known as a great athlete and a guy with the character that makes him too good a person to be a Bengal, so it's a good thing that the New Orleans Saints traded up and took Ellis before the Bengals could get their filthy paws on him.

NFL teams have said Ellis will play defensive tackle, and that's where he should play for the Saints, but I could easily see him moving to end if that's what they need down the road. He's versatile enough to play anywhere on the line.

The Saints made clear that they were willing to pay a big price to get better on the defensive line. They traded up to get Ellis, and they got better on the defensive line.

Previously on FanHouse:
It's a Good Idea to Trade Jammal Brown, but Dont Count on Him Going to the Rams
If the Saints are Dormant on Draft Day, Many Pundits will Be Embarrassed
Jeremy Shockey Searches for New Orleans Real Estate, Saints Might Have Moved On
FanHouse Mock Draft: N.O. Saints Select CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie No. 10