Source: Payton, Saints Agree To Extension

Hannah Foslien/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints have agreed to a five-year extension, according to an ESPN source.

Payton has been suspended by the league for his role in the Saints bounty scandal, but was given permission to negotiate a new deal in November. A previous extension was rejected by the league becaue it contained language allowing Payton to get out of the deal if general manager Mickey Loomis was supsended or left the club.

Payton is 67-37 as head coach of the Saints, including a Super Bowl championship. 

The Saints sit at 7-8 going into the final week of the regular season, and will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2008. 

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New Orleans Hornets Reward GM Demps With Extension

Brian A. Westerholt/Getty Images(NEW ORLEANS) --  New Orleans Hornets general manager Dell Demps has agreed to a new multiyear contract extension with the team.

Terms of the contract were no released, per club policy.

The 42-year-old Demps has completely overhauled the club's roster since he took the job in 2012.  The team is off to a 3-3 start and is showing promise.

The roster is filled with players age 25 or younger including this year's top draft pick Anthony Davis, rookie point guard Austin Rivers, and star shooting guard Eric Gordon.

Demps was also responsible for sending All-NBA point guard Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers in a trade last year for a slew of young players and draft picks.

Executive Vice President Mickey Loomis says Demps "has a bright future," and that both he and first-year owner Tom Benson "couldn't be more impressed" with the direction of the team.  Benson is also the owner of the NFL's New Orleans Saints.

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Suspended Saints Coaches Receive Permission To Attend Game

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images(NEW ORLEANS, LA) -- New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees personally asked NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell if the suspended Sean Payton, Mickey Loomis, and Joe Vitt can be permitted to attend Sunday night's game.

His email request was granted, and the suspended coaches and general manager will be in attendance at the Superdome, Brees found out through media reports.

If Brees throws a touchdown pass Sunday night for the 48th consecutive game, Brees can break Johnny Unitas' NFL record.

Brees will also achieve that milestone against the team that drafted him, the San Diego Chargers.

Payton was suspended for the entire 2012 season for his role in the Saints' bounty scandal.  Loomis was banned for the first eight games, and Vitt received a six-game ban.

 "I am excited for our team and for them," Brees said in a text message. "It adds another element to what we hope to be a very special night." 

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No Evidence of Saints Wiretapping

Leon Halip/Getty Images(NEW ORLEANS) -- Louisiana State Police investigators have found no evidence that the Saints or general manager Mickey Loomis set up Superdome wiring so opposing coaches' radio communications could be heard.

"This has been an intensive investigation, and after numerous interviews we have determined that there is no evidence that state laws have been violated," State Police Col. Mike Edmonson said Monday.  "This is based on what we know today. If any new allegations would come up we would certainly pursue that."

"This is not anything to do with the FBI or the U.S. Attorney's office. We find out whether or not there's any evidence to show criminal wrongdoing and base it on state law," he continued.

Both the FBI and state police investigators have been working together since reports of eavesdropping allegations came up in April.

Edmonson met with Saints owner Tom Benson to tell him the news on Monday.  Edmonson said Benson "was happy, of course," when he received the latest investigations.

"We found no corroborating evidence that Mickey Loomis or anybody in the Saints was engaged in wiretapping or eavesdropping," Edmonson said.

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Drew Brees Discusses Contract

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees has still not worked out a new deal with the organization and general manager Mickey Loomis.

Brees appeared on the Mike and Mike Morning Show on ESPN Radio on Tuesday to discuss his contract talks.

"I've always said you would think this process should be a lot more simple than it is, it just always seems to be complicated," said Brees. "Still very confident that we'll get a long-term deal done and hopefully that will happen sooner than later.”

As for the talks, Brees said he knows exactly what is going on between the Saints and his agent Tom Condon.  But why is the deal taking so long to get done?

"Certainly it comes down to certain provisions of the contract, there are little things here and there that take time to resolve, in the end the organization typically starts off at one place and the player starts off at another and you find a way to compromise and meet in the middle,” said Brees.  “I'm confident that we'll reach that point."

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Saints Make New Contract Offer to Drew Brees

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis has submitted a revised contract proposal to quarterback Drew Brees' representatives Thursday, according to ESPN's Ed Werder.

Brees' agent Tom Condon and Loomis have been going back and forth on a salary difference of approximately $2 million, according to sources.

There is no word when or if Brees will accept this current offer but he is seeking atleast an average salary in the $20.3 million range. 

Werder said on Thursday that he doesn't expect a deal to get done by this weekend.

New Orleans Saints interim head coach Joe Vitt has said all along that he expects a deal will get done and that Brees will eventually be in camp.

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Joe Vitt: Brees Will Be In Camp

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images(METAIRIE, La.) -- New Orleans Saints interim head coach Joe Vitt is confident that his quarterback will be in camp sooner than later.

While the team and Drew Brees have yet to work out a new contract, Vitt said on Thursday that his quarterback has no other options right now.

"What else is he going to do? He can't sing or dance," said Vitt. "He's going to be here."

Brees is holding out on a contract that will make him among the highest paid NFL players but New Orleans general manager Mickey Loomis has said that the club cannot just throw big money around and has to be concerned with the team's future as well.

"I don't think anybody thought this was going to be easy," Vitt said,  "There's a lot of revolving pieces here that Mickey's got to get fit in with the [salary] cap and get people signed, and so on and so forth, and it's all going to fit into the future. This is going to get done."

Training camp begins July 16.

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Report: Saints' GM Loomis Able to Eavesdrop

NFL via Getty Images(NEW ORLEANS) -- Some more bad news for the New Orleans Saints. 

The U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Louisiana notified the Saints that their general manager Mickey Loomis had an electronic device in his Superdome suite that had been secretly re-wired to enable him to eavesdrop on the visiting coaching staff for nearly three NFL seasons, according to ESPN's Outside the Lines.

"There was a switch, and the switch accessed offense and defense," a source familiar with the Saints game-day operations told Outside the Lines. "When Randy (Mueller) was there, it was the Saints offense or defense, and when Mickey was there it changed over so it was the visiting offense or defense."

Randy Mueller was the Saints former general manager before Loomis took over.  NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league was unaware of the allegations.

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NFL Upholds Saints Suspensions

Chris Graythen/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- The NFL upheld the suspensions of New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, general manager Mickey Loomis and assistant coach Joe Vitt for their roles in the team’s bounty system Monday. The trio filed their appeal with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell last week.

“The big thing Roger Goodell is trying to do, if you are involved in a system like this and you have to be accountable for a system like this, you are going to miss time from the field,” ESPN NFL insider John Clayton said. “You can pay the financially penalty, but these are coaches, these are front office executives, they care about the game itself and being on the field.”

The NFL suspended Payton for one year, while Loomis received an eight-game ban and Vitt received a six-game suspension.

Former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who was suspended indefinitely, did not appeal.

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Saints Coach And GM Take Full Responsibility For Bounty Program

Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images(NEW ORLEANS) -- New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis issued an apology Tuesday for the bounty program run by former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.

“We acknowledge that the violations disclosed by the NFL during their investigation of our club happened under our watch,” Payton and Loomis said in a joint statement. “We take full responsibility.”

The NFL investigation found that for the last three seasons, the Saints maintained a bounty pool for as much as $50,000. A player that knocked an opposing player out of the game received $1,500, while a player that had to be helped off the field was worth $1,000.

Between 22 and 27 defensive players participated in the pool, according to the investigation.

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