A sad day for the city of New Orleans

Four beloved veteran Saints players released.

What's been suspected for months became reality Wednesday when the New Orleans Saints parted ways with a slew of veterans, Roman Harper, Will Smith, Jabari Greer and Jonathan Vilma, in cost-cutting measures.

Before Wednesday, the Saints were at least $12 million over the projected 2014 salary cap of $126 million.

"These were not easy decisions to make," said general manager Mickey Loomis. "Since we acquired them, Jabari, Roman, Will and Jonathan have all been excellent players on the field for us. Each of them were integral parts in turning this program around and winning a Super Bowl. They were a great example to our players as team leaders in the locker room as well.

I'm going to miss Roman.  People were always on his case but he really was a good football player. He was a great tackler, he was especially effective as a blitzer. Not gonna check right now but I think he led the team in sacks one year.  It was a bad idea to leave him alone in coverage very often but, well, nobody's perfect.

I don't know exactly why this is but, watching the team week to week, I don't think there was anyone I more actively rooted for to play well.   Maybe because, when he made a big play, it was usually pretty memorable.



Anyway, goodbye friend.

Oh and also a former mayor was convicted on 20 of 21 counts of public corruption charges today.  That seems significant.