A bad offseason for the Saints keeps getting worse.
John Barr of ESPN reports that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Louisiana recently was told that Saints general manager Mickey Loomis “had an electronic device in his Superdome suite that had been secretly re-wired to enable him to eavesdrop on visiting coaching staffs for nearly three NFL seasons.”
Saints spokesman Greg Bensel tells PFT that the allegation is “1000 percent false.”
“We asked ESPN to provide us evidence to support their allegations and they did not,” Bensel said.
Generally citing unnamed “sources,” Barr claims that the device was installed in 2000, when Randy Mueller served as G.M. of the Saints. It was used at the time to monitor game-day communications involving the Saints’ coaching staff. Barr contends that, after Loomis took over, “the electronic device was re-wired to listen only to opposing coaches and could no longer be used to listen to any game-day communications between members of the Saints coaching staff.”
The device allegedly was used during the 2002, 2003, and 2004 seasons.
Barr spent plenty of time both online and on camera talking about statutes of limitations for both criminal and civil actions arising from the alleged activities. Coincidentally, ESPN could end up being the target of a civil case.
“The team and Mickey are seeking all legal recourse regarding these false allegations,” Bensel said.