Heath Evans will be a free agent whenever free agency starts, and he doesn’t know if he’ll be back in New Orleans whenever the season starts.
But while he’s not sure if he’ll remain a Saint, Evans is sure that the Saints are in good hands. And he credits all of that to the leadership of quarterback Drew Brees and linebacker Jonathan Vilma, who have been leading the team through as normal an offseason schedule as possible during the lockout.
“Really the only difference is Drew Brees and Jonathan Vilma,” Evans said on 620 KTAR, via SportsRadioInterviews.com. “I’m not saying that other teams don’t have great leadership because I know that exists on most teams in this league. I think there’s very few teams that have it on both sides of the ball. . . . Everything [Brees] does is methodically mapped out and planned out. The guy’s been playing in this league 10 years, going on 11. He’s been through plenty of minicamps. . . . Those guys are doing a great thing and I definitely think it’s going to give the Saints a leg up, an advantage, especially early on in the season if this lockout pushes on into late July, early August.”
In addition to putting in the time to organize the workouts, Brees is putting in the money to fly people to and from the workouts, which Evans praised.
“Drew has done, amazing is not even the word,” Evans said. “You talk about your quarterback picking up the tab for flights and hotels and the Tulane strength and conditioning staff and the medical staff. I cannot say enough about Drew and what he’s done for our team.”
And even if the Saints aren’t Evans’ team any longer, Evans will continue to praise the Saints’ leadership.