NFL Hopes Saints Return to Superdome Late in ’06

The NFL hopes the New Orleans Saints can play at least some of their 2006 schedule at the Louisiana Superdome.

The stadium, damaged by Hurricane Katrina, will not be ready to play host to a Saint game until late in the season, however. The team will probably split the remaining games between San Antonio and Tiger Stadium at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge as they have this year.

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue emphasized again that the Saints will remain a New Orleans-based franchise next year.

“Our goal is to play some games in the Superdome in 2006,” Tagliabue said Monday in New Orleans. “It’s too early to say what will happen in 2007.”

Tagliabue said major decisions about the 2006 season will be made in the next few weeks. He announced that former Miami Dolphin president Eddie Jones has agreed to serve as his New Orleans-based liaison with business and civic leaders.

Long-term decisions on the Saints’ future will depend on many factors, including plans for restoring levees that failed during the storm, plans for rebuilding neighborhoods and projections on how many businesses will reopen in New Orleans, Tagliabue said.

Tagliabue will return in January to discuss the status of the Superdome. Items covered Monday were a potential outline of dome renovations, said Tim Coulon, head of the Superdome Commission.

“It’s highly unlikely we would have the facility available at the beginning of the season,” Coulon said. “We’re looking at November, but again, that’s an ambitious schedule.”

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Cleveland receiver Braylon Edwards will sit out the rest of the season because of a torn knee ligament, yet another setback for one of the Browns’ top picks.

The No. 3 overall selection in the April draft, Edwards tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee while trying to make a leaping catch in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Coach Romeo Crennel said surgery had not been scheduled because doctors are waiting for the swelling to subside. Players with similar injuries typically need eight to 12 months of rehabilitation to recover.

Of the seven players Cleveland has selected in the first round since 1999, only center Jeff Faine is starting. The others: Tim Couch, Courtney Brown, Gerard Warren, William Green and Kellen Winslow are either out of football (Couch), playing elsewhere (Brown and Warren in Denver) or injured.

Winslow, the club’s top pick in 2004, sat out 14 games in his rookie season after breaking his leg and then was lost for the 2005 season when he tore a ligament in his right knee in a motorcycle accident in May.

Edwards finished the season with 32 receptions for 512 yards and three touchdowns.

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His suspension over, Terrell Owens was deactivated as planned for the Philadelphia Eagles’ Monday game against Seattle.

Owens was suspended Nov. 5 after he again criticized quarterback Donovan McNabb, called the organization “classless” and fought with former teammate Hugh Douglas. Two days later, the Eagles extended the suspension to four games and told Owens not to return.

On Nov. 23, an arbitrator upheld the decision, ruling that the Eagles were justified.

Owens was restored to the 53-man roster last week, but his career in Philadelphia is over. The Eagles plan to deactivate him for the remainder of the season and will trade or release him before March, when he’s due a $5-million roster bonus.

Owens’ suspension without pay cost him $764,706 of his $3.25 million base salary for this season. He is owed $955,882 over the final five games.

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St. Louis Ram linebacker Dexter Coakley’s left leg injuries could threaten his career, Coach Joe Vitt said.

Coakley dislocated his ankle and broke his leg in Sunday’s loss to Washington. Vitt said a metal plate will be placed in Coakley’s leg for stability.

“The only thing I told him is that I’d do everything I could humanly possible to make sure that wasn’t his last snap [Sunday],” Vitt said.

Coakley, 33, is in the first season of a five-year, $14.5-million, free-agent contract.