Allgemein » drained a 3-pointer from the wing, but

NEW ORLEANS -- The New Orleans Saints made their first major moves of what is expected to be a challenging off-season on Wednesday, releasing strong safety Roman Harper, outside linebacker and defensive end Will Smith, and cornerback Jabari Greer. General manager Mickey Loomis also says the club does not intend to re-sign free-agent linebacker Jonathan Vilma, who has been hampered by recurring knee injuries the past few seasons. "These were not easy decisions to make," Loomis said in written comments released by the club. "Since we acquired them, Jabari, Roman, Will and Jonathan have all been excellent players on the field for us. Each of them were integral parts in turning this program around and winning a Super Bowl. They were a great example to our players as team leaders in the locker room as well. "However, a new NFL year is about to begin and, with the start of free agency in March, these difficult moves allow us to position our team under the salary cap to move forward for 2014," Loomis added. The Saints have said they intend to retain free-agent Pro Bowl tight end Jimmy Graham, either through a franchise tag or long-term extension, and both options will require financial flexibility. Wednesdays moves will save nearly $17 million in 2014. Saints coach Sean Payton said Smith, Harper, Vilma and Greer were "right there at the top" of all the great players he has coached or been around in his coaching career. "These are disciplined, smart, tough and team-oriented individuals," Payton said. "They all played an important role in helping this team and this city win its first Super Bowl and they have all enjoyed multiple playoff appearances and wins." Smith is a former first-round pick of the Saints in 2004 and had a team-leading 13 sacks during New Orleans Super Bowl season. However, he was widely expected to be released after this season, which he missed after tearing knee ligaments late in the preseason. He was scheduled to be paid $10.4 million in base salary alone this season. He has played in 139 games for the Saints, accumulating 67 1/2 career sacks. Harper was New Orleanss second round draft choice in 2006 and has since started 104 games. He went to Pro Bowls after the 2009 and 2010 season and his 17 career sacks are the most ever by a Saints defensive back. His base salary for 2014 was set at $2.35 million. As the moves became public, Harper posted a note on the social media website Twitter, thanking New Orleans fans for "the 8 years of .GreatMemories .WHODAT .SBXLIVCHAMPS." Greer, scheduled to earn $4 million in base salary next season, joined New Orleans as a free agent in 2009, immediately sliding into a starting role he held until a serious knee injury against San Francisco in mid-November, which ended his season. He intercepted nine passes in his five seasons in New Orleans, returning two for TDs. Vilma was acquired in a trade with the New York Jets in 2008. He led New Orleans in tackles during his first three season with the club and selected to Pro Bowls in 2009 and 2010. In 70 games with New Orleans, he was credited with 530 tackles, eight sacks, six interceptions, five forced fumbles and seven fumble recoveries. Last season, however, Vilma began the season on the physically unable to perform list because of his recurring knee problems. He returned for only one game before sitting out the rest of the season, and on Wednesday he seemed to be comfortable with the Saints decision not to engage him in further contract talks. On Twitter, he wrote: "Couple pro bowls and a superbowl ring later, I couldnt have written that chapter any better. .WhoDat" Like Smith, he was a defensive captain, but also like Smith, was implicated by the NFL as a ring-leader in a cash-for-hits bounty program that the league said the Saints ran from 2009-2011. Both players have always denied they ran a bounty pool as described by the NFL and successfully overturned suspensions. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, meanwhile, has maintained the leagues findings were accurate. Fake Nike NBA Jerseys . -- The Los Angeles Angels have agreed to a minor league contract with reliever Brandon Lyon that includes an invitation to their big league camp for spring training. Fake NBA Jerseys Online .C. -- Al Jefferson said he feels like hes playing the best basketball of his 10-year NBA career. http://www.fakenbajerseys.com/ . Louis Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia will have surgery on his left shoulder this week and is expected to miss the rest of the season. Discount Fake NBA Jerseys . Tampa Bay Buccaneers RB Doug Martin broke the news that hes cleared for full activity moving forward. Fake NBA Jerseys 2019 . on the 15-day disabled Monday list because of a strained right hamstring.SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said he was worried about facing a team coached by one of his former assistants and that employs his signature zone defence. Jerami Grant helped ease those nerves in a hurry. Making his first start of the season and 10th of his career, the sophomore forward scored 11 points in the first 7 minutes as the No. 2 Orange built an early 20-point lead and beat Eastern Michigan 70-48 on Tuesday in the final nonconference game for both teams. It was a far cry from Saturday, when Syracuse trailed then-No. 8 Villanova 25-7 before rallying for a 78-62 victory. "We just wanted to come out and be aggressive," said Grant, who started in place of injured Dajuan Coleman and finished with 15 points. "We didnt want to let them get to a big lead like we did against Villanova. We just came out aggressive, but we kind of let up after that." Syracuse (13-0), one of seven unbeaten teams in Division I, has won 51 straight nonconference games in the Carrier Dome and begins its first season of play in the Atlantic Coast Conference at home against Miami on Saturday. "We really have come through this first 13 games as well as you could ever hope for," Boeheim said. "We played some really good teams. Its ironic the one game we could have lost was St. Francis. Weve put ourselves in the best position we could possibly put ourselves in." Rakeem Christmas matched his career high with 15 points, C.J. Fair finished with 13 points and eight rebounds, and Trevor Cooney had 10 points for the Orange. Freshman point guard Tyler Ennis, second nationally in assist to turnover ratio (4.69), matched his season high with nine assists to go with two turnovers and pulled down five rebounds but did not score. Glenn Bryant led Eastern Michigan (7-5) with 19 points and eight rebounds and Raven Lee had 12 points. Leading scorer Karrington Ward had five points, 10 below his average, on 2-of-10 shooting. Former Syracuse centre DaShonte Riley, a 7-footer, was a nonfactor, failing to score or snare a rebound in 15 minutes of play. The Orange put together a 19-4 spurt as the Eagles sputtered mightily, making just 3 of their first 16 shots and committing eight turnovers in the opening 12 minutes. After Darell Combs hit a 3 to pull Eastern Michigan to 11-6, Cooney started the Syracuse run with a 3 from the left wing and Fair and Grant followed with dunks to give Syracuse an 18-6 lead at 13:28.dddddddddddd Christmas converted a lay-in to complete a pretty passing play under the basket with Ennis and Tyler Roberson and boost the Orange lead to 30-10 at 7:33. "I knew with Jerami starting it makes them better offensively," Eastern Michigan coach Rob Murphy said. "He was able to get into the high post and create some havoc. When we figured that out, it was a game." The Orange got sloppy after their spurt, committing five turnovers, Christmas was called for two fouls, and Ennis missed the front end of a 1-and-1 as the Eagles clawed back with a 15-6 surge keyed by two three-point plays from Bryant. "The first four minutes determined a lot," Bryant said. "We came out kind of sluggish and were down so much. We just talked to each other, said we had to bring more energy, consistency, and we were able to fight and get back into the game." In the final 80 seconds of the period, Fair and Christmas missed dunks and Grant was called for goaltending. A pair of free throws by Mike Talley with 1.7 seconds left narrowed the Oranges lead to 36-27 at the break. EMU moved within 36-30 in the first minute of the second half when Talley drained a 3-pointer from the wing, but Christmas responded with a putback, Fair sank two free throws, and Cooney hit his second 3 of the game to give the Orange a 12-point lead less than 4 minutes in. After Lees 3-pointer closed the gap to 44-37 at 15:53, Syracuse responded with a 14-2 run to clinch it. Christmass putback capped it at 7:46 and gave the Orange a 58-39 edge. Syracuse committed 13 turnovers, finished 3 of 14 from long range, Fair missing all five he attempted, and misfired on 10 of 25 free throws. "We started to play at a very high level," Boeheim said. "We played at a very low level the rest of the game. Its something to think about. I think we felt we had the game under control and offensively settled a little bit. They made a couple of good offensive plays. We had a really bad stretch at the end of the first half, made some turnovers we dont usually make." Coleman, who has a contusion in his left leg, watched the game dressed in sweats on the Syracuse bench. Hes been receiving treatment for the injury and Boeheim called the injury day-to-day. ' ' '