Veteran running back Mark Ingram has announced that this season he’ll be in the TV studio, not on the field.
Ingram and Fox Sports released a statement saying that he’ll be part of Fox’s college football studio show for the 2023 season. Although the 33-year-old Ingram didn’t specifically say he’s retired from the NFL, it appears that his playing days are over.
“I can’t wait to feel the energy and excitement every Saturday, alongside some of the most talented and entertaining names in our sport, at the biggest games in college football,” he said in a statement.
Ingram won the Heisman Trophy in 2009 at Alabama and was a first-round draft pick of the Saints in 2011. He played eight years in New Orleans, two in Baltimore, one in Houston, and then ended his career back in New Orleans. In 2022 he carried 62 times for 233 yards.
Saints tight end Foster Moreau announced today that he is in full remission, just months after a routine team physical revealed that he has cancer.
“After a few tumultuous months, I’ve been blessed with the news that I am in full remission from Hodgkin Lymphoma! I’m so grateful to everyone who reached out to offer their love and support; our prayers were answered. From here I will continue to live my life as God intended,” Moreau wrote on social media.
The 26-year-old Moreau played his first four NFL seasons with the Raiders before agreeing to a contract with the Saints in March. But the Saints’ team doctors recognized troubling signs, referred him for more tests, and he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Although he was initially designated as having failed his physical, his prognosis was good enough that the Saints signed him in May to a three-year, $12 million contract with $8 million guaranteed.
Moreau participated in offseason practices with the Saints and expects to play this season.
The Jets will be the first team to hit camp as their veterans report on July 19. The Browns will get underway two days later and the two teams will play each other in the Hall of Fame Game on August 3.
The Chiefs and Lions are the next to get underway as they will play in the first game of the regular season. The dates for rookies and veterans to report to camp for every team can be found below.
Cardinals: Rookies and Veterans 7/25
Falcons: Rookies 7/18, Veterans 7/25
Ravens: Rookies 7/18, Veterans 7/25
Bills: Rookies 7/18, Veterans 7/25
Panthers: Rookies 7/22, Veterans 7/25
Bears: Rookies 7/22, Veterans 7/25
Bengals: Rookies 7/22, Veterans 7/25
Browns: Rookies 7/19, Veterans 7/21
Cowboys: Rookies and Veterans 7/25
Broncos: Rookies 7/19, Veterans 7/25
Lions: Rookies 7/19, Veterans 7/22
Packers: Rookies 7/21, Veterans 7/25
Texans: Rookies and Veterans 7/25
Colts: Rookies and Veterans 7/26
Jaguars: Rookies 7/21, Veterans 7/25
Chiefs: Rookies 7/18, Veterans 7/22
Raiders: Rookies 7/20, Veterans 7/25
Chargers: Rookies 7/18, Veterans 7/25
Rams: Rookies and Veterans 7/25
Dolphins: Rookies 7/18, Veterans 7/25
Vikings: Rookies 7/23, Veterans 7/25
Patriots: Rookies 7/21, Veterans 7/25
Saints: Rookies 7/18, Veterans 7/25
Giants: Rookies 7/18, Veterans 7/25
Jets: Rookies and Veterans 7/19
Eagles: Rookies and Veterans 7/25
Steelers: Rookies and Veterans 7/26
49ers: Rookies 7/18, Veterans 7/25
Seahawks: Rookies and Veterans 7/25
Buccaneers: Rookies 7/24, Veterans 7/25
Titans: Rookies 7/22, Veterans 7/25
Commanders: Rookies 7/21, Veterans 7/25
Like many of his teammates, Saints tight end Juwan Johnson has been impressed by his new quarterback Derek Carr.
But with training camp approaching, Johnson noted that as New Orleans’ offense continues to evolve under coordinator Pete Carmichael, Carr may have better players around him than ever before.
“I feel like with Derek, there’s a lot of things you can do,” Johnson said in a recent interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio. “He’s been in an offense where he’s had Josh McDaniels, Jon Gruden, so he has a lot of that he can bring over to our offense. Obviously, we have a lot of pieces on our offense — which I think he’s probably never had before. So that’s something that he can use a little bit.
“So, a big credit to Pete — Pete’s been working his tail off this offseason. We’ve got some stuff in there that I’m like, ‘Pete, I’ve never seen this before, but I like it.’ So, I’m really excited for Pete going into Year Two. He’s been behind Sean for so long. So, he’s learned a lot and he’s ready to blow up now.”
While the Saints do have players like Alvin Kamara, Chris Olave, Jamaal Williams, Michael Thomas, Taysom Hill, Foster Moreau, and Johnson, Carr did go through last season with Davante Adams, Josh Jacobs, Darren Waller, Hunter Renfrow, and Moreau. Waller and Renfrow weren’t healthy for the entire season, but it’s not like Carr was playing with a bunch of scrubs before.
Johnson is entering his fourth season with the Saints, with the club having picked him up as an undrafted free agent in 2020. So, Johnson spent one season with quarterback Drew Brees at the helm before going through the carousel of QBs over the last two years.
That’s likely why Johnson’s praise of Carr included a comparison to Brees.
“It honestly felt like we’ve been working with Derek for a while now, so OTAs was really good, really smooth,” Johnson said. “He’s giving me more of a feel — because he’s an older guy — he’s giving me a lot of Drew [Brees]. Going into the huddle, commanding the huddle, guys gravitating toward him — these are things [I saw from] how Drew conducted the offense and things like that.
“So, it’s giving me similar feels. And so I’m really excited about what Derek has and how he’s going to move this offense.”
Derek Carr was not happy to be benched by the Raiders for the final two games of last season.
“I was, for lack of a better term, I was very upset; I was mad ,” Carr told the Fresno Bee.
Carr said that as much as he wanted to remain a Raider, with the way the end of his tenure was handled, he knew he was going to have to move on this offseason.
“Once they made my wife cry, that was pretty much over,” he said. “Once they made her cry, that was out. But the love for my teammates is what probably would have made me do it. But the way it worked out and the timing of things, I was just . . . it was time for me to move on. But who knows? You never know what will happen.”
Now the quarterback of the Saints, Carr is hoping he has found his final NFL home, after an abrupt end with the team he played for for the first nine years of his career.