posted April 29, 2006 - print me!
neworleansprofootball.com

Q: Were you eating with Sean Payton when you heard that the Texans signed Mario Williams?

A: "We were going to dinner and got that call. We were surprised. I wouldn't say shocked. Mario Williams is a great player. We think an awful lot of Mario Williams. I don't think Houston needs any criticism for taking him. This kid's (Reggie Bush) worthy of being the first pick in the draft and in a lot years he would be, but we were surprised, but not shocked. We talked about the chance that we might have the chance to take Reggie Bush. I don't think any of us really took it seriously in terms of that opportunity, but when it came it was discussed."

Q: Did you ever talk to Houston about moving up?

A: "We had a conversation a few weeks ago. We had a conversation during the combine. It was brief. It was way too early to be a significant conversation. I think you always do that. When you're talking about the top of the draft, you're talking to teams around you and kind of get a feel for if people are interested in moving one way or another, so I wouldn't say anything beyond that."

Q: Did you get any offers without naming teams in regards to this second pick that were equal to or worth more than the value of the pick?

A: "No. We got a couple offers. They weren't remotely close to anything that we considered."

Q: About a week ago, what did you think your chances were of acquiring Reggie Bush?

A: "About 20 percent maybe. I don't know. I can't put a number on it, but if I were to tell you right now, I would have said pretty low. What we read, what we hear, our expectation was that Houston was going to try to sign Reggie and then take him."

Q: Were you disturbed about anything you head about off the field about Reggie this week?

A: "Yes, we talked to some investigators. I got a call about that. The league called four teams to talk specifically about the details behind that and the circumstance. We felt pretty comfortable about Reggie. We felt it was very minimal. We'll support Reggie and we'll support his family in any way we can."

Q: Do you think Reggie fell to the second pick because of any red flags or the contract issue?

A: "No. I think Charlie (Casserly) made a football decision for them."

Q: Will Reggie be involved both on offense and special teams?

A: "Yes, I think that will sort itself out, but that will be a coaching decision. Sean (Payton) will make that decision as we get farther along. He's done some of that (returns) and done it pretty well. There's no question that we'll find ways to get him involved."

Q: Would you concerned about him being heavily involved in returns?

A: "Yes, I'd be concerned about it. We definitely would be concerned about it. If we do it, if we use him in those situations, it would be judiciously."

Q: Was Reggie Bush much higher than anyone else on your draft board?

A: "In all honesty, we had five guys in this draft that we felt, depending on whom the team was and the circumstance, any one of those five guys might have been the first pick in the draft, depending on team need, depending on circumstances surrounding the draft. There were five really good players. There were obviously some other good players as well. In our mind, Reggie Bush is the best player in the draft."

Q: Do you agree with an assessment that Reggie is perfect to be the face of the franchise?

A: "I don't know about that. I agree with you that Reggie creates a lot of excitement, obviously amongst our fans here, because we got him, but any team's fans would be excited to have Reggie Bush. Whether he's the face of this team or not depends upon performance going forward. We got some pretty good faces on our team right now in Deuce (McAllister) and Joe (Horn) and Drew Brees and some other guys, so he's obviously a high profile player, the second pick of the draft, all those things. We'll see how it goes. I don't want to get too excited about that part of it, but obviously we're excited to have him just as the fans are."

Q: When you watched Reggie Bush did you watch him as a player first without evaluating him?

A: "I think everybody does that. People evaluate him during our season, the college season, scouts. Our scouts were exuberant about Reggie Bush's play during the college season. The rest of our football operation was more focused at the task that we had at hand."

Q: Did you check his highlights out a lot?

A: "I think that's self evident. You watch any USC game and it seems like every game's a highlight film for him."

Q: Do you think that the fact that Mario Williams was picked before Reggie will help in your negotiations with him?

A: "I hope so. I hope so. I certainly hope so. Negotiations at the top of the draft every year are difficult. They're difficult every year. There's nothing that make's it easy. I hope we have a quick resolution. I think based on history, those negotiations are tough even when the first pick is signed. Although the first pick being signed set a bar that we can work off of."

Q: Are you concerned about signing Reggie?

A: "Sure, I'm concerned no matter what player we would have taken at the top of the draft."

Q: Would you have a game plan tailored to give Reggie 20 to 25 touches a game?

A: "I think that's a question for Sean, but certainly. We've talked about that, how can we involve both these guys (Reggie and Deuce McAllister). They're really good players. They're complementary players. They can make big plays for you as well as a couple of other guys on our team, so that's up to our coaching staff to utilize them in the best fashion possible."

Q: Are you disappointed that there were not more trade opportunities today?

A: "We're not disappointed at all. Obviously we're open to a trade if the opportunity would arise, but the opportunity was not arisen and did not present itself and then obviously when Reggie Bush became available, our appetite for trading was reduced considerable."

Q: How would you evaluate your off-season after acquiring Reggie Bush and Drew Brees and do you feel the team's image has been rebuilt?

A: "I'm not concerned with rebuilding our image. I'm concerned about rebuilding our football team and getting away from that 3-13 season. Getting off of the disappointment. In the end we were a 3-13 football team and we got to get that turned around. I'm pleased as I said before about getting Drew Brees to visit and then to get him signed I think that was a great move for us, a great coup for us and I think it sent a message around the league to the right people that we're going to get things going. I'm really excited about Sean Payton. I have been since the day we hired him. I'm more excited about him today than the day I hired him. Now to get Reggie Bush, obviously, all of these are positive steps. We didn't get every player we went after. We had some guys turn us down. I'm pleased with the off-season to date. I'm really pleased with how hard our players are working in our strength and conditioning program this off-season. I'm really pleased about that. We got guys that have come back with a vengeance in terms of their preparation. I'm real happy about that as well."

Q: Do you think Bush's agent will ask you for less money than Mario Williams got?

A: "No. We're not in the business of paying guys what they ask for. We're in the business of making a deal that's fair to the player and fair to the team. We got a lot of work. First of all, I got a good guy in Russ Ball to put that on his shoulders. He's got to work with Reggie's people and determine a contract that's fair to both sides. I think there's a lot of work to be done with that."

Q: Do you know of any instances where a player drafted second, third or fourth got more money than the player drafted first in a contract?

A: "I can't say with certainty with the information at my fingertips, but it's pretty rare in the draft in general when one pick jumps up to the pick in front of them. I think that's rare. I don't want to tell you it's never happened. I just don't know. I don't want to make a statement that's not completely accurate, but it would be rare."

Q: Did you have to alter your plans for the night after Mario Williams signed with Houston?

A: "I turned off the phone for one thing for a period of time, because I wanted to get with our guys. I knew what our position was. I knew how we felt, but I wanted to go through it again, go through all the scenarios, go through all the possibilities and just be diligent about any circumstance that might come about, because we're looking at probably a different player than we all thought we were looking at. We just went through that scenario again last night, again this morning. I think I've said this, we didn't get an offer that I would even seriously consider."

Q: Did you get improved offers during the time you were on the clock?

A: "No."

Q: Would you want to sign Reggie Bush to a six-year contract?

A: "Yes, six years is the maximum deal you can do and certainly I'm sure that's what both sides would be looking for."

Q: Do you know when Reggie will be here?'

A: "We're working on that right now."

Q: Can you discuss Mr. Benson's reaction?

A: "He was excited about it. From the moment we talked about Reggie Bush in the past. He's been very supportive."

Q: Do you feel good about the offensive line now that you have your quarterback and running back?

A: "I think we got to good running backs by the way. We've got some holes. We got some holes. Would we like to get another offensive lineman in there? Sure, we would. Would we like to get some help for our defense? Sure, absolutely. We'll see what happens here at the top of the second round, what kind of opportunities we have, but yes, we got some work to do, absolutely."

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