New Orleans Saints' Willie Gay Jr. Missed Practice | Kamara Contract Talks Update

for their week one matchup I'm going to tell you why you don't need to panic just yet we got all that and a little bit of Lanette for you on another episode of Locked on Saints you are locked on Saints your daily New Orleans Saints podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day what is good HUD that nation and hudat family I am your host Ross Jackson New Orleans native your New Orleans Saints expert and credential member of the media covering those New Orleans Saints as the Saints beat writer over at louisian sports.net and Saints analysts over at wwltv on today's episode of lock on Saints we are live as we continue on with our two a days uh if if I'm doing too much just tell me because otherwise I'm never going to stop doing too much uh we're going to take a look at some good injury news for the New Orleans SS offensive line getting a much needed boost we're going to take a look at Alvin CRA who updated on his own contract negotiations today and explain why he's selling his house uh we're also gonna kick everything off here today though with a little bit of little bit of negativity but not too much not too much I promise but Willie Gay Jr New Orleans Saints newly acquired linebacker and electrifying piece for this New Orleans Saints defense already missing practice week one not already uh we'll dive into it right I'm going to tell you why you shouldn't be super concerned around this one at least not yet we got all that coming up for you on today's episode we appreciate you very much as always for making us your first listen of the day every day and for being in every day or here on the show which is a proud part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day today's episode brought to you by our friends over at priz pick uh oh man prize pick is easily the most fun and exciting way to play daily fantasy sports just go to priz picks.com lockon NFL and use the promo code in all lowercase locked on NFL to win $50 instantly when you play five bucks you don't even have to win that $5 bet to win the $50 bonus it's guaranteed prize picks run your game and the New Orleans Saints are trying to run their game or at least get their run game ready for the upcoming game up against the Carolina Panthers on runday I mean Sunday see what I did there um and as they got back to practice it was a bit of a bonus day of practice today okay so it wasn't really like the first week first practice of week one just yet that will officially be on Wednesday which will include injury reports all those kinds of things uh but the news coming out of bonus practice on Monday uh is who wasn't there people that we didn't expect to see weren't there no surprise when it comes to defensive tackle Colin Saunders when it comes to DeMarco Jackson or uh Jaylen Ford the two linebackers but the big concern came with the third linebacker that was missing or one of of the three linebackers that was missing in Willie Gay Jr now Willie Gay Jr was brought in on a one-year deal with some incentives here over the course of the offseason and has without a doubt been one of the most electrifying pieces for the New Orleans Saints I'll call it new look defense when it comes to the front seven right adding Christian Boyd adding now uh you know via trade another defensive tackle coming out of the Washington commanders you've got the addition of Willie gate Jr so yeah a pretty new look front seven at least for the New Orleans Saints but I don't think that it's time to panic on this one just yet Dennis Allen did confirm that he Mis practice due to injury but declined to go into much specifics in terms of what that injury was which again makes sense they don't have to tell us anything right now when it comes to injuries right it's not week one there's no injury report until Wednesday and all those other things but I'm just not really ready to push the panic button on this one yet we saw and mean this when I say this a Litany of injuries over the course of uh training camp and everything and a lot of it was precautionary I mean like you know uh hey don't worry about it just be ready for week one kind of stuff or hey don't worry about it like take it easy kind of stuff and everything like that like there was a lot of that kind of going on not necessarily in those words but there was a lot of that like all right take it easy don't make it worse than there already is kind of approach over the course of training camp with this being a bonus practice or a bonus day of practice ahead of week one week one's practice is actually beginning um it's not super surprising to me that or it wouldn't be super surprising to me if this was just another taking precaution type of a situation but I do think that it is important for the New Orleans SS to have Willie Gay Jr ready at the beginning of the season because he does bring a lot of value for this team brings a ton of energy brings some Championship winning experience adds to what has become one of the strongest units on this New Orleans Saints team as a whole the linebacker room with Demario Davis Willie gay and Pete Warner of course a part of that as well would the Saints be fine if they went into week one with de Mario Davis and Pete Warner and no willig gay yeah they'll be fine that's what they typically have had over the course of the past few years and they've been very good at the second level thanks to De Mario Davis and Pete wner but the addition of Willie gay helping out as a supplemental Blitzer the New Orleans Saints one of the most productive second level supplementary Blitz teams and in other words UTI most successful teams utilizing linebackers in their pass rush is what I mean by that um having Willie gay be a part of that is well for lack of better phrase helpful it's good to have and so having him out on the field would be a huge Boon a huge boost to this New Orleans Saints defense uh without a doubt but is it worth rushing anything is it worth potentially anything getting worse over the course of the Season maybe not necessarily uh now here's my big concern for the Saints with this entry if this player Willie Gay Jr is not able uh to get back out to the field uh so that he can take the field with Demario Davis and Pete Warner there will be a lot of three linebacker sets this year the Saints are also dealing with injuries to DeMarco Jackson as well as rookie Jaylen Fort who were also on the active roster so this would mean them having to turn to Anthony or which is fine they love what Anthony orgy has been able to do he can play all three linebacker positions which I think is a good thing for this particular situation with Demario Davis healthy with Pete Werner healthy nothing that you have to be concerned about there so if you don't have Willie Gay Jr then you can plug in anthon orgie to be that other guy right and then if ever there is an injury to Demario Davis if ever there is an injury to Pete Werner Anthony orgy's experience and versatility would allow them to be able to overcome a little bit of that now they do also have a couple of linebackers over on their practice squad between guys like um Isaiah stalberg in particular as a guy that could potentially rise up and help them uh as well or be brought up and then potentially help them out from a numers situation from a um from a special teams sort of viewpoint and everything like that so the team could still walk in with four healthy linebackers for week one if they needed to they have a lot of all that but I I think that there's there's those those things to Fig figure out but we won't really know exactly what willly Gay's injury is until Wednesday and who knows he might be back at practice then but that's when we get our first injury reports that's when we'll get a better understanding sort of what this situation is but I think that there's no reason to push any kind of panic button uh at this point uh I think that there is um you know a good chance here that this could just be the team being precaution precautious but who knows might be saying that and then it ends up being something more drastic than that so we will wait and see what happens when gets to uh when it gets to Sunday's game or excuse me when it gets to Wednesday's practice my apologies uh when we get the injury report at that time so we'll see what happens there um up next and in a little bit like look it's not just all bad injury news for the New Orleans Saints they also got some players back this week that I think are really important so we're going to dive into that but before we get to that I want to take a look at um Alvin CRA Alvin CRA speaking with us today after practice uh laid out a little bit of where the contract negotiations are and I think most importantly since everyone was so concerned about it gave you the reason why he's got his house up for sale we got all that and much more coming up for you on today's episode of lockdown Saints for a lockdown podcast Network your team every day and today's episode brought to you by friends over at game time game time is my absolute favorite place to go and especially right now thanks to their new feature game time picks weeding out all of the fluff on your favorite Live Events and just making it much easier it filters out all of that stuff you don't want to see and then shows you only the incredible deals in great seats so that you don't have to waste your time searching through thousands of tickets because look let's face it game time got a lot of tickets right they're a trusted ticket sale all that they also have all-in pricing which you can toggle on so you don't you're not afraid of like what the price might actually be when you get the check out just brings a little bit more transparency into the game over at game time and they also even let you see a view from your seat before you purchase the tickets as well so you know exactly what to expect before you get there one of my favorite things about game time 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barber shop with Tony Wiggins fantastic NFL talk with the help of our local experts here on the network yes a national show that actually leans on the local experts to make sure that the information's correct how cool is that make sure you go check him out today locked on NFL and you can catch me over there with Tyler on Fridays as well all right so Alvin cimo met with the media after practice and kind of updated us on where things are in terms of his contract negotiations I did a show earlier today because we're back to two a days here as we continue on like I said if I'm doing too much just tell me uh but um I think that it's time for the New Orleans SS to get a contract extension done with album CR there was a deal on the table according to uh or per rather uh si.com um uh reporting over there and so I I want to be cognizant of the fact that there was deal on the table but yet no deal has been agreed upon so now you're kind of entering this week one area at what point do you just say okay well I'm turning my focus to week one the regular season I'm not worried about the contract uh extension anymore are you willing to push that all the way to Friday Saturday are you willing to kind of see through the opportunity to maybe get a deal done uh all of the you know when it comes to um post week one or anything like that I don't know but it sounded like from Alvin CRA standpoint he just wants to focus on the season basically what he said was uh he was very clear that like whether a contract gets done or not doesn't matter he's here to play so he'll be out there on the field for them no doubt about that but he might just say you know what we'll just revisit this conversation at the end of the season and he kind of alluded to that uh during his conversation uh with us and the New Orleans tanks absolutely need that they don't have another option at running back when it comes to what Alvin chra is set to give this team with the new new system Jamal Williams is a very very good running back but he is not Alvin cra's archetype of a back in terms of all the different things that Alvin Alvin cerra can do Jordan Mims very talented looked really good over the course of training camp at the preseason but technically still an unknown commodity right like that's fair to say because he hasn't gotten regular season snaps with the team in which he has been a part of their brand new system no one has so the only person that's really a proven commodity from what you feel like can absolutely fit in this system is Alvin chra and then Jamaal Williams in certain situations right so you want to make sure that you have Alvin chra ready to go so for chimra I think that the idea here is don't want the distraction right oh contract didn't get done oh well it's game time not worried about it right so I think that's the way that he's looking at this and it certainly sounds like that's the way that he's looking at it now I've had a lot of people ask me this and this this stuff happens all the time all the time right well Ross he put his house up for sale let me tell you something if you're under the impression for whatever reason that Alvin CRA owns a single property and that selling one property is any indication of what's happening with him and his contract negotiations and everything like that you are sorely mistaken sorely mistaken and completely Miss how the money works when it comes to the NFL um Alvin CRA talked a little bit about this and he mentioned that he's got multiple properties and that he was selling the house now he made jokes about you know going and living with like a local u local situation and stuff like that lots of good jokes in terms of that it was always it was all very funny uh but my main takeaway from it was you're never going to get an indication of someone's contract negotiations based upon their Zillow ads it's just not going to happen um these guys own more than one property all over the league right they own more than Alvin C owns more than one property in New Orleans like in town and all those other things and so and I completely agree with Aaron that like look with the amount that you have to pay now in Louisiana for mortgage and Home Insurance you're paying a pair of mortgages for every dang house you own I don't blame them for selling the thing and also he wants to get into things like um he also wants to get into things like uh real estate and all that kind of stuff he mentioned that a family member of his was a real estate agent or is a real estate agent and everything like that so I I just wouldn't take much away and look I'm sure that there are some examples uh some would probably point out Kurt Cousins uh but I'm sure that there are some examples of you actually being able to glean something when it comes to these types of things but this is not what that is in this situation and Alvin chra being very clear that he's very intentional about the way that he moves in terms of setting himself up for his life post football uh as well as of course like he's not going to do something like that that would give away where things are headed out there in public he knows very well what the social media engagement looks like what the social media game looks like and the way that people latch on to all of these things so I would just say that if you want to know more about how a New Orleans Saints contract negotiation is going rely on local media and the people that you trust don't worry about the Zillow ads it'll be okay um but look I I think that the the good news here is that it sounds like no matter what happens contract wise Alvin chra is determined to play and to be out there and to contribute to this team because as he just as he described during training camp that his contract negotiations don't have anything to do with him and his teammates his contract negotiation don't have anything to do with him and his coaches he doesn't he doesn't negotiate the contracts his team negotiates the contracts and the coaches and players have nothing to do with those contract negotiations from the New Orleans Saints side and perspective at all but I'll tell you where the coaches can make a difference and that is when bring in a new offensive system that will Elevate Alvin chra and his skill set the way that Clint kubak New Orleans st's new offensive coordinator looks to be prepared to do with his new offensive system the wide zone system outside Zone runs utilizing the the running backs in the passing game all of those other things um all that stuff ends up helping Alvin chimra if he has a good season here in 2024 and so really the coaching should actually help or let me say it this way the game plan should be able to help Alvin CRA be able to come back to the drawing board next after the season or next offseason and say so what are we thinking you know what I mean it should end up helping him so if I were anybody uh looking at this team and saying that you want the best for it you're hoping that a the New Orleans Saints dip into the running back draft class because it's going to be one of the best running back draft classes in the history of the NFL is what people are saying so definitely something to watch there uh lots of UCF love lots of Boise State love in terms of that but also you want Alvin CRA to have a strong season here in 2024 because if he has a strong season in 2024 and gets a reasonable contract extension done reasonable is the key word with that then you have something to build off of going into 2025 with ideally a very good young running back added to this room in the NFL draft so that's what we're going to be looking for here for the New Orleans Saints or of course not to leave him out of the conversation kendre Miller shows up and ends up having you know a big year once he's back from his hamstring injury so any of any of those things are positives for the New Orleans Saints and for Saints fans coming up next it wasn't all bad news when it came to injuries New Orleans in's offensive line getting a much needed boost with the return of Nick Sal de I'll describe why that is important for New Orleans we got that coming up for you next as we continue on and wrap up today's episode of lockon saints for lockon podcast Network your team every day today's episode of lock on Saints brought to you by our good friends over at prize picks the number one daily fantasy destination for me and all my friends because I absolutely love me some prize picks and so let me tell you all about it this is the way that it works right you end up going through you pick two to six players and then against their projections you choose more or less you think that Blake groupy is going to kick more or less or have more or less than two good field goals in week uh one you think Derek Carr is gonna throw for more or less than his projections at at w at quarterback you get the idea here so that's it that's all you got to do and then if you end up getting 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more of like a bonus week for where the team is uh and Nick salivary returned to practice which I think is a big and positive thing for the New Orleans Saints especially over on the offensive side of the football and on that offensive line so thank you very much for being here for another episode blessings to everybody that comes through and has joined whether you're live or later we appreciate you very much for being here uh we're switching back to two a every day except for Tuesdays when the things don't have practice so we have a fresh morning episode and then every day where there is a h practice we'll have a live show later on kind of recapping practice Wednesday will always be a little bit later just a heads up just because of my network meetings you know I got got I got a job another job to do too I guess every now and then all right so the New Orleans Saints offensive line I I mentioned in an episode last week still needs help in my opinion it it's not an offensive line that I feel fully comfortable with or that I feel feel fully uh is fully reliable outside of certain spots right like Eric McCoy one of the most reliable centers in the NFL you feel good there you feel pretty good about where Al fonga has come along in terms of left tackle you should feel good although I know it's popular not to you should feel pretty good about where Caesar Ruiz is going into this year the big question marks are at left guard and right tackle Trevor pinning at right tackle we believe it's going to be Lucas Patrick at left guard because it has been Lucas Patrick at left guard all off season but here's where things get a little bit interesting the New Orleans Saints welcome back Nick Sal de very participating in practice at least during the portion of practice that's open to Media we get about 25 let's say 20 to 30 minutes throughout the week right sometimes it's 25 minutes sometimes it's 30 minutes sometimes it's 20 minutes it all kind of depends on the day but during the time that we were there which is like individual drill stretch and stuff like that Nick salivary was participating this is a big step forward for Sal deer who hadn't participated in like most of training camp and then in none of the preseason so this is this is good news remember the Saints traded up to the very first pick of day three last year in the 2023 NFL draft to spe specifically draft Nick Sal de and if you were if you're an everyday and you heard all of our pre-draft episodes leading up to the 2023 NFL draft you knew that Nick salivary was not it was not a mystery that the thing's like Nick salivary right so what is it that he brings well I think first of all he brings a lot of value in terms of his versatility on the interior and this is what the New Orleans thingss like to have when it comes to their depth look at the guys that are on that made the roster behind the top five o Udo Landon young Nick salivary all versatile pieces Udo can play both left tackle I both tackle spots and play on the interior same thing for Landon young who can play on both tackle spots and in the interior and then you have Nick salivary who can play both interior spots and can technically play center as well Jim naggie of the Senior Bowl executive director of the Senior Bowl spoke with us after the NFL draft and did mentioned that he believed that Nick salivar's best position was actually where he played at the Senior Bowl which was Center or where he worked out at Center um uh during his time at the Senior Bowl more appropriately so the Saints getting Nick Sal de very back it look it doesn't make the entire offensive line all of a sudden better right you still have to see how the starters perform has Trevor Penning turned enough of a corner to be an adequate starter for the team um does Lucas Patrick give you enough on the interior all that kind of stuff but might not answer all those questions however it does give you valuable de and it does put the Saints in a bit of a better situation than they were in when the 53 man roster was set and we weren't necessarily sure when Nick salivary was going to be ready now Dennis Allen did say that they expected to have him back soon so he was right about that as that was last week and then now here we are into this week all those things but the next thing is how soon is he in football condition how soon is he ready to actually play will he be active on game day all those other things good news for New Orleans is that if he can't be active on game game day because he's not necessarily in like football shape just yet right like that takes a lot um it's not just healing from the injury and getting past the mental side of the injury it's also about making sure that like your conditioning is right and you're ready if that's not the case they've got like Kyle hgle that they can fall back on and all these other guys that are really talented that are on the practice squad and they just brought in Austin deculus not long ago who's GNA give you a little bit more at tackle but still uh gives you a little bit there so I think it's a boost for the new orans State's offensive line does it mean you should feel really really good about the offensive line and that there's nothing to worry about ever again when it comes to it no absolutely not but this is a step in the right direction for the New Orleans Saints uh and the offensive line Nick cury wasn't the only one that returned to practice today we also saw isaah Isaiah stalber come back to practice well timed for the New Orleans Saints who are in need of those special teams linebackers that will be able to help out so let's say that DeMarco Jackson and Jaylen Ford aren't ready to go at the beginning of for week one then I think you've got a guy like Isaiah stalber that can step into that role and then Kik Hudson as well who has been a starter in the NFL who has been a core special teamer in the NFL for the Washington commanders so they're in pretty good shape there even if they're without Willie gay DeMarco Jackson and Jaylen Ford the Saints also saw the return to practice or the practice field of D Hulker New Orleans Saints undrafted free agent tight end the guy that they call their eighth round draft pick right he wasn't participating but he's a fan favorite uh he wasn't participating but he was there he was is walking around I have been told I have been told that um the Saints or that Hulker will be able to would be able to get back to practice if they felt like they needed him to get back to practice last week he could have done it and all those other things the Saints might not necessarily feel that they need to rush D Hulker back just yet right they've got a healthy Jaan Johnson they've got a healthy Foster Maro they have a healthy tesm Hill they've got guys on the practice squad that they can Elevate as well traon Welsh who they just brought in as well as um Michael Jacobson who's still on that practice squad as well so they could Elevate one of those guys as well as a standard game day elevation and all that and then they could take their time with d Hulker but I'm curious to see if Wednesday Thursday or Friday we see D Hulker getting a little bit more involved and actually practicing with the intent to be ready uh for uh Sunday's game however I think that there is a uh chance that uh he's like inactive for the first game and if that happens that's okay there's time for him to get to get ready but we'll get a better indication of that Wednesday Thursday and Friday that's just me speculating and sharing what the possibilities could look like and basically just trying to say that the possibilities don't necessarily show anything that says that well this is the worst possible situation ever they'll they'll be fine but it is good to see D Hawker getting back all right that's all my notes from practice today we appreciate you very much for being here yes we did ask Dennis Allen more about the uh quarterback 2 battle we're going to dive into that in tomorrow morning's episodes make sure you come back for that two a days are back we appreciate you very much as always for being here for making us your first listen of the day every day don't forget to go and check out that new locked on uh NFL show I promise you it's worth your time it's awesome it's super fun Tony and Tyler do a great job and our fantastic lineup of co-hosts also doing a great job so make sure you go and check that out and also check out locked up Pelicans with my good friend Jake Madison and and my good friend Matt musona over at locked on LSU we appreciate you very much as always making us a part of your day part of your routine for saying yes to me on the show as always if see me please say hi and if you need anything else around your New Orleans Saints in between these episodes make sure you follow me on your favorite social media Ross Jackson n hit me up let me know how the family's doing let know how you living let me know how you moming them and Trust you. Nation I'll holl at you