Saints may be away from city all month
Rams deal ex-Lobo Bojorquez to Pack
The New Orleans Saints are investigating the possibility of remaining in the Dallas area for up to a month and opening their regular season against Green Bay in the Cowboys’ home stadium, coach Sean Payton said.
While the Superdome appears to have been spared significant damage from Hurricane Ida, there are logistical challenges with staffing an NFL game there in the near future because of the widespread damage in the New Orleans area.
Many New Orleans residents have evacuated and officials have advised them not to return for at least another several days while roadways are cleared and widespread damage to power lines are repaired. Some neighborhoods are expected to be without power for weeks.
“There’s a chance that, if our stadium is not ready to host the Packers in Week 1, where might that game be?” Payton said Tuesday. “That game could very well be right here at AT&T Stadium. We’ve got enough fans in this area and Houston, certainly from northern Louisiana, that we think that would be something that’s very realistic.”
Payton said the Dallas area, where the Saints relocated on Saturday as Ida approached the Gulf Coast, also seems to make the most sense as a temporary practice base because multiple Division I college football programs there have offered help and because of conflicts or logistical challenges with other locations the club considered.
Payton said the Saints are focused on making a four-week plan, “knowing we can always adjust if need be.”
“A lot of it will depend on, when is the city ready to receive people to come back? When’s the power back up?” Payton continued. “When are all the things up and running at least for people to return? And we don’t know the answer to that yet.”
EX-LOBO TRADED: The Los Angeles Rams ended their punter debate by trading punter Corey Bojorquez, a New Mexico
alumnus, to Green Bay in exchange for 2023 sixth-round pick, the Los Angeles Times and Associated Press reported.
Bojorquez, 24, had been locked in a competition with nine-year veteran Johnny Hekker, a fourtime All-Pro who is the NFL’s highest-paid punter. Hekker is due to carry a salary-cap number of $4.9 million this season, according to overthecap.com.
Hekker, 31, has been on the COVID-19 list since Aug. 21.
Bojorquez signed with the Rams in April after playing three seasons for the Buffalo Bills. In last Saturday’s preseason game against the Denver Broncos, he had a 67-yard punt and placed 48- and 70-yard punts at the one-yard line.
WATSON-DOLPHINS: ProFootballTalk.com, one of the most popular aggregators of NFL news and rumors, has been reporting about Miami being the possible landing spot for embattled Houston quarterback Deshaun Watson, who has 22 civil cases and 10 criminal complaints — but not charges — involving sexual assault hanging over him.
However, according to a team source, the report is inaccurate, and owner Steve Ross believes in second-year quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, the team’s 2020 firstround pick, who led Miami to a 6-3 record last season as the team’s starter.
Watson, meanwhile, remained on Houston’s active roster Tuesday as Texans made cuts.
CARDINALS: Arizona placed cornerback Malcolm Butler on the reserve/retired list on Tuesday, potentially signaling the end of his seven-year career.
NFL Network reported Monday that Butler was mulling retirement because of a “personal situation.”
The 31-year-old Butler signed a $6 million, one-year deal with the Cardinals during the offseason and appeared in line to become a starting cornerback.
TRADE: Chris Herndon’s three years in New York were marked by promising playmaking and frustrating fizzles.
The Jets traded the 25-year-old Herndon along with a 2022 sixthround draft pick on Tuesday to the Vikings for a fourth-rounder in next year’s draft.