Posted by Andy Benoit

We’ve heard what plenty of fans and talking heads think about Sean Payton’s decision to move his family to Dallas. And we’ve heard what Saints owner Tom Benson and general manager Mickey Loomis think. And what Payton himself thinks (he supports his own decision).

But what about the players? Or, more specifically, the most important player?

Pat Yasinkas of ESPN talked with quarterback Drew Brees. Here’s what the Super Bowl XLIV MVP said about his head coach’s move:

It's a non-issue. I think everyone wants to immediately jump to conclusions and all of them are so untrue. The first of which is his family and him are having problems. No, that's not the case at all. The other one is he's taking a job with the Dallas Cowboys. No, not true either. People want to immediately jump to conclusions as to why he's bought a home in Dallas but most players and coaches in the league have a home base, a place where they're either from or where they spent a lot of time before so they have a solid foundation. There's not a guy who's more committed to his team and the city of New Orleans than Sean Payton. I think he's proven that.''

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Posted by Will Brinson

DALLAS -- Sunday night wasn't just the Super Bowl -- it was also "ridiculous rumor involving coaching changes" night in America.

Or something. The point is that for a brief moment, Andy Reid was leaving the Eagles for retirement and Sean Payton was bolting the Saints for the Cowboys. The respective teams debunked those rumors via statements released on Monday morning, but as it turns out, Payton IS moving to Dallas.

But not to coach -- he's just coming here to live.

That's according to ESPN's Ed Werder who reports that Payton will coach in New Orleans, live in Dallas and commute via a private plane back-and-forth to the Bayou.

Payton's got a Super Bowl title and is a hell of a coach, so I don't want to act like I know more than him about doing his job, but this just reeks of a terrible idea.

As Jeff Duncan of the Times-Picayune tweeted, New Orleanians are "fiercely loyal to their city" and would probably prefer that one of the faces of their franchise be deeply embedded in the community, a la Drew Brees.

Additionally, Payton could pretty easily keep a house in Dallas and New Orleans, given his salary (especially as compared to, say, the cost of a private plane every week).

Maybe there's more to the story and Payton was bouncing to the Cowboys until the Saints agreed to let him commute. Or maybe he really wants his kids to go to Highland Park and get a particular eduction in a particular city. Or maybe he or his wife have a sick parent they want to care for. Or maybe he already knows there won't be football in 2011 and he's just locking down a place to live. All of those are total speculation, but this story just has a "more than meets the eye" feel to it.

None of that will matter if the Saints come out and start winning next year, of course, but it might matter a lot if they struggle early.

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Posted by Will Brinson

People who hate the Steelers will tell you that Ben Roethlisberger is the "greatest game manager of all-time." Steelers fans, upon hearing that, will throw things at whoever said it. And those black-and-gold fanatics are probably right -- Ben's a hell of a football player and ridiculously talented quarterback.

And he garnered some pretty specific praise from Bill Polian, President of the Colts, who happens to know a thing or two about decent quarterbacks.

"Bottom line, if you ask football people, they're going to put Ben Roethlisberger up there with [Manning and Brady] almost unanimously," Polian told Sam Farmer of The Los Angeles Times. "No one would leave him out. And others who have made the Pro Bowl, for example, wouldn't even get consideration if you took a poll of all 32 general managers."

Before you get upset that Polian insulted your quarterback, make sure to remember that in this day and age, 75 percent of the NFL makes the Pro Bowl, so you shouldn't be too terribly worried about whether or not your quarterback's better than Roethlisberger. (Unless that was a shot at Philip Rivers, in which case it's a little awkward.)

But the fact remains that Ben is in fact an elite quarterback. He's one of the six best quarterbacks in the NFL -- Brady, Manning, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, Ben and Aaron Rodgers comprise an arguable list of top-end signal callers.

And that list might get a lot more solidified (or maybe LESS solidified??) depending on what happens at the Super Bowl.

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Posted by Will Brinson

During the 2010 season, there was a lot of speculation about a possible Drew Brees knee injury -- in September a report surfaced that he had a sprained MCL and in November a radio station claimed the Saints were hiding a knee fracture and a torn meniscus in Brees' knee. Turns out, he was indeed injured -- the reigning Super Bowl MVP confirmed to CBSSports.com Monday afternoon that he dealt with a sprained MCL for six weeks.

The question about Brees' injury stemmed indirectly from Jay Cutler's injury on Sunday night (for which he caught some grief) and directly from teammate Heath Evans' claim Monday morning that Brees played on a sprained MCL for six weeks.

"Yeah, I had an MCL sprain this year and was able to rehab it and play with a brace and it limited my mobility for a period of time," Brees told CBSSports.com. "But I was fortunate enough to be able to get through it.

"Nobody knows the extent of Jay Cutler's injury except for him and the Bears training staff, so nobody can comment on it fairly. I think it's unfair to do so just because you don't know -- you can speculate all you want."

Brees, in Hawaii at the Pro Bowl working with P&G and NFL Play 60, took a stance that contrasts directly with his willingness to play through the injury, but his point is a salient one -- it's impossible to know whether Cutler could have been effective or not with the injury. His lone series in the third quarter, while not all that different from his first half, indicated to the Bears training staff -- based on what Cutler said about the injury -- that he'd be unable to perform up to snuff.

Listen to the full podcast with Drew Brees -- he talks about Cutler, the Super Bowl, the Saints' expectations for 2011, the possibility of a lockout, Twitter, Play 60 and much, much more -- below.



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Posted by Will Brinson

This past weekend was one of most exciting wild-card weekends in NFL history.

But was it the most exciting? That's one of the questions Andy and I answer in this week's podcast review. We also debate whether or not Seattle fans should be sending such vitriolic emails, where Marshawn Lynch's powerful scamper ranks in the pantheon of all-time single runs, just how impressive Dom Capers' defense was Sunday, whether Jim Caldwell's seat should be hot, how clutch Mark Sanchez really is, and whether or not we should have seen the Ravens pummeling of the Chiefs coming.

All that (plus much,  much more) -- just hit the play button below and don't forget to Subscribe via iTunes.

If you can't view the podcast, click here to download .

Posted by Josh Katzowitz

Tim Tebow didn’t lead the league in jersey sales this season (that’s shocking for the Wonder Boy, I know). Neither did Drew Brees nor Peyton Manning nor Tom Brady nor Roger Goodell nor Michael Vick (nor Ron Mexico for that matter).

You know who did? Troy Polamalu.

According to CNBC’s Darren Rovell, Polamalu is the first defensive player to earn this distinction since Brian Urlacher in 2006.

The list:

1. Polamalu

2, Brees

3. Tebow

4. Manning

5. Brady

6. Vick

7. Aaron Rodgers

8. Eli Manning

9. DeSean Jackson

10. Mark Sanchez

11. Tony Romo

12. Brett Favre

As Rovell writes, Vick wasn’t even in the top-25 of jersey sales through Halloween (I guess being pretty awesome at quarterback helps your bottom line). Meanwhile, Favre hasn’t been this low since 2006 when he finished 14th (I guess being a lightning rod for criticism, sexual and otherwise, helps kill your Q rating).

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Posted by Andy Benoit



CBSSports.com's patented and award-winning 7-point playoff preview gets you ready for each and every playoff game. And as an added bonus, check out our playoff podcast preview:



1. New Orleans Saints (No. 5, NFC, 11-5) @ Seattle Seahawks (No. 4, NFC, 7-9)

The 2010 Saints essentially became the first wild card team in history to get a bye when they drew the matchup against the hapless/fruitless/pathetic/laughabl
e/embarrassing NFC West Champion Seahawks. Seattle can obviously play the “nobody believes in us card”. It’s not even a card to play – it’s more just a fact. But it doesn’t matter because nobody believes in their ability to play the “nobody believes in us card” anyway. And nobody cares if the Seahawks have a chip on their shoulder or something to prove or are out for respect or whatever it is bad teams say before big games. So you say nobody thinks you deserve to be here, Seattle? You’re correct. And all the nobodies are correct, too.

2. PLAYOFFS?! Watchability Ranking (On a scale of 5 'Jim Mora Faces')





3. Key Matchup to Watch: Drew Brees & Sean Payton vs. Seahawks D

It’s simple, really: the Seahawks don’t have the firepower to keep up with the Saints. Which is why you can expect the Saints to look to establish a big lead early. Obviously any team would like to establish a big lead early. The difference with New Orleans is that they have a coach who is willing and knows how to do it. The Saints are arguably the best play-scripting team in football. Don’t be surprised if you see 15 different formations in New Orleans’ first 15 plays. Most of those formations will be of the spread variety, given that Drew Brees prefers to get as many weapons as possible involved, and given that New Orleans has all but ignored the run the last three weeks.

Brees will take a keen interest in the Seahawks cornerbacks, neither of whom matches up well with Robert Meachem (expect Meachem to be the No. 1 target given that Marques Colston is questionable after having arthroscopic knee surgery last Tuesday). Kelly Jennings lacks size and Marcus Trufant is inconsistent in deep man-to-man coverage. Seahawks fourth-round rookie Walter Thurmond will also be tempting to pick on, especially if he has to handle the precise route running of Lance Moore.

4. Potentially Relevant Video

If the Saints watch this video sometime during the week, don’t be surprised if Sean Payton, out of support for an angry Reggie Bush (and inside word is Bush is definitely angry) giddily runs up the score on the former USC head coach.



5. The Saints will win if ...

They show up and nothing ridiculous happens.

6. The Seahawks will win if ...

They are on the fortunate end of a fluke turnover (or two…or three) and can gather energy from the home crowd that they don’t deserve to be playing in front of.

7. Prediction: Saints 35, Seahawks 13

Posted by Josh Katzowitz

With a rushing game that ranked 28th in the NFL this year, the Saints have had to count on QB Drew Brees and a solid corps of WRs, including Marques Colston, Lance Moore and Robert Meachem, to jumpstart an offense that overall was the sixth-most prolific in the NFL this season.

And while it’s disappointing that New Orleans announced today it was placing RB Pierre Thomas on Injured Reserve with the same left ankle injury that limited him to just six games this season, the Saints have proven they can win without him.

But can they win without any running game at all?

Considering Chris Ivory already is on the IR list, New Orleans basically is left with Reggie Bush and Julius Jones to handle most of the carries. Bush has rushed only 36 times this season for 150 yards, and Jones averages 2.6 yards per carry.

This week, it probably won’t matter, because the Seahaws rank 27th in the league in pass defense.

But without an effective running game – or a running game that can top, say, 50 yards a game – it’s going to be awfully tough to repeat as Super Bowl champions.

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