Saints starting QB Brees received new prize

Leading the New Orleans Saints to the franchise first Super Bowl championship has brought quarterback Drew Brees more than a Super Bowl ring and Super Bowl MVP title. Recently a new prize was given to the quarterback in No. 9 Saints jersey-being the cover model for this year’s “Madden NFL”.

According to the announcement made by the EA Sports on Thursday, Brees will appear as featured image on the front of “Madden NFL 11,” the latest installment of the best-selling football franchise. Expressing his gladness for being selected, Brees said that landing the cover of “Madden” was “a great way to cap off an amazing year.” Indeed, a Super Bowl win is enough for him to be honored in that way and there are still other reasons for him to make appearance of the cover of “Madden”.

Since joining the Saints in 2006 after being released by the former team San Diego Chargers, Brees has devoted a lot of his life to the city. He is not only the starting quarterback of the city’s football team but also the spokesman for the city’s reconstruction after the Hurricane Katrina. Without telling what he wants to be like on the cover, the quarterback hopes that people could pay more attention to what happened to New Orleans upon seeing the Saints’ fleur-de-lis logo on the cover.

Saints now have new DE Wilkerson

Now the No. 97 New Orleans Saints jersey is ready to be worn by someone new from Tampa Bay. On the past Tuesday night, former Buccaneers defensive end Jimmy Wilkerson signed a one-year contract worth $2 million with the Saints, adding some more depth to the team’s defensive line that causes concerns going into the preseason.

The Saints were believed to make a good choice in adding Wilkerson. The defensive end recorded 46 tackles, 6 sacks, and forced 2 fumbles for a very underwhelming defense during last season with the Buccaneers despite an ACL injury that was suffered late last year. Spending his first five seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, Wilkerson has his best seasons with the Buccaneers with 11 of his 12 career sacks being made during the past two seasons. The seven-year veteran became a restricted free agent this offseason and had been considering several offers including the one made by Buccaneers. After having a visit with Saints recently, he made the decision to join the last year’s Super Bowl champion team.

Coupled with recent signing of former Chicago Bears defensive end Alex Brown, the addition of Wilkerson made the Saints more confident with the position of defensive end. It may also affect the team’s choice in the first round of the draft and team is likely to use their first pick to draft a player for another position on the defensive line.