--First-round draft pick Sedrick Ellis is not expecting to sign a contract as quickly as some of the players picked ahead of him in the draft this spring.

Ellis, a defensive tackle from Southern Cal, was the seventh overall selection in the draft. Three of the six players chosen before him -- tackle Jake Long (first, Miami), quarterback Matt Ryan (third, Atlanta) and running back Darren McFadden (fourth, Oakland) -- are already signed.

"I don't even think there's been any discussions," Ellis said recently.

Ellis said he doubted that negotiations will begin until July, which is when the Saints typically start signing their draft picks, and will wait to see what type of deal defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, the fifth pick, gets from the Kansas City Chiefs.

--Saints coach Sean Payton said near the end of the team's organized team activities that it was difficult to evaluate rookie left-footed kicker Taylor Mehlhaff.

That's because Mehlhaff, who was chosen by the Saints in the sixth round of the draft, and veteran Martin Gramatica had not received enough reps to make much of a distinction between the two, Payton said.

"I haven't seen enough, really," Payton said. "Hopefully, once we get into training camp and get into some live situations we'll see a lot more. I think that really defines itself. He (Mehlhaff) has a strong leg and you see that.

"But I'm anxious to get started because we'll have a good competition there, which is a positive. Once we start playing and he's able to kick live in games -- we've kind of created that scenario a little bit, but it's harder to do right now."

--Saints quarterback Drew Brees and his wife, Brittany, helped spearhead the drive for much-needed repairs to the athletic fields at Lusher Charter School in New Orleans this summer.

Through their Brees Dream Foundation, the couple contributed $270,000 toward the repairs of the fields, which have been in poor condition since being damaged by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.

The school also received a $400,000 gift from the National Automobile Dealers Charitable Foundation. The work is expected to be completed this summer and be ready for competitive football, soccer, baseball and softball, and physical education classes for the upcoming school year.

The fields are also used by neighboring schools and local recreation programs.

--Women in Sports and Events (WISE), a leading voice and resource for professional women in the sports and events industry, recently named Saints and VooDoo (Arena Football) owner/executive vice president Rita Benson LeBlanc as one of three honorees for the 2008 WISE Women of the Year Award.

LeBlanc, Fox Network NFL reporter Pam Oliver and Molly Solomon, the coordinating producer for NBC's Olympics coverage, were honored at the 14th annual WISE Women of the Year Awards Luncheon in New York.

Criteria for the honorees include leadership, service as a voice and resource for women in the industry, and general professionalism and performance on and off the field that have significantly affected the business of sports.

LeBlanc oversees business and administrative operations for the Saints -- including sales, marketing, community and youth programs, entertainment, and stadium operations.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"He's had an opportunity to get healthy and I think his explosiveness is at a level of what we saw when we drafted him. His comfort level in the offense is up, and I think he has a role within the receiving corps and he'll just continue to get better and continue to study and know what to do." -- Saints QB Drew Brees, on the offseason improvement of second-year wide receiver Robert Meachem.

Copyright (C) 2008 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.