The Saints reached a 5-year deal with LB Curtis Lofton late Saturday. The former Falcon figures to jump in immediately as the MLB starter in New Orleans. That should spell the end of Jonathan Vilma's Saints tenure. (Of course, a significant suspension seems likely to come from the league for Vilma's role in the Bounty controversy.) Lofton was viewed as a 2-down player for new Falcons DC Mike Nolan, which is likely why the 2 sides never agreed on a new contract. Our guess is that New Orleans plans 3-down duty, but we'll see how that shakes out in training camp. The Saints also added former Rams OLB Chris Chamberlain earlier in the week, a potential starter at WLB.

Sports Xchange's Len Pasquarelli reports that Falcons MLB Curtis Lofton could be spending less time on the field in 2012. Pasquarelli wrote that 1 priority for new DC Mike Nolan is to get Lofton out of pass-defense sub packages. This would basically render Lofton a 2-down player. There have been murmurs the past couple years about taking such a step, which would obviously limit Lofton's IDP upside. Less time on the field will mean fewer tackles. OLB Sean Weatherspoon would remain a 3-down guy and easily the defense's top fantasy factor.

Atlanta MLB Curtis Lofton told ESPN.com's Pat Yasinkas on Saturday: “Looking back on the film of myself from last year, I look real old. I wasn’t as explosive as I could have been." However, Lofton says he's "feeling like a whole new man" after off-season knee surgery. He told Yasinkas, “I didn’t have my burst and now I’m getting my burst back." Lofton's tackle numbers dipped last year, though he did pick up a couple of sacks and an INT. Lofton might lose out on some tackles to a healthy OLB Sean Weatherspoon, but this is undoubtedly good news for his IDP value.