Mum's the word

Saints sign three free agents, ponder Turley's fate

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- The New Orleans Saints opened their news conference on their latest free agency signings by advising the media they did not want to talk about tackle Kyle Turley.

"I want to make one pre-emptive comment about Kyle Turley with respect to signing Wayne Gandy," general manager Mickey Loomis said Monday. "As you know, we have had inquiries about Kyle's availability and I just want to say that there is no news to report on that front."

The Saints signed Pittsburgh Steelers left tackle Wayne Gandy on Sunday, and he is expected to start at the spot Turley held down last season.

"Wayne will be the left tackle," head coach Jim Haslett said.

Turley has one year remaining on his contract. He is scheduled to make a base salary of $3.3 million next season and will count $4.5 million against the salary cap.

Turley became something of a folk hero in New Orleans after he attacked New York Jets safety Damien Robinson when Robinson grabbed the face mask of Saints quarterback Aaron Brooks and twisted it.

Turley ripped Robinson's helmet off and threw it downfield, then made an obscene gesture. His actions got him tossed out of the game. They also drew a 15-yard penalty that ended the Saints' final chance to tie or win the game. The Saints lost 16-9, but the fans loved Turley and his outlaw image.

Turley soon became known as "Surly Turley" because of his outbursts to media and opposing teams and fans.

This year, Turley has said he wanted to play on the west coast, where he attended San Diego State. The Saints have been talking to teams about Turley, but signing Gandy did not spark it, Loomis said.

"We have had a lot of calls about Kyle before and after that," Loomis said. "There hasn't been a spike today. We have had a number of calls about Kyle."

In addition to signing Gandy, the Saints beefed up their defense with Atlanta Falcons cornerback Ashley Ambrose and San Diego Chargers middle linebacker Orlando Ruff.

Ambrose, 5-foot-10, 187 pounds, returns to the Saints after starting the past three seasons for the Falcons. He had 12 interceptions from 2000 through 2002 and has 36 overall during an 11-year career.

A native of New Orleans, Ambrose was cut Feb. 21 by the Falcons. He agreed to a four-year, $8 million contract with the Saints that includes a $1.5 million signing bonus.

Ambrose, 32, started all 16 games in 1999 and led the Saints with six interceptions. But his costly contract made him expendable to Haslett, then in his first year as the head coach.

"I should have been here the whole time, but you know how those things go," Ambrose said.

Ruff, 26, a fourth-year pro from Furman University, started at middle linebacker for the Chargers in 2000 and 2001 but was beaten out by veteran Donnie Edwards last season. He played in all 16 games in 2002 and had four tackles.

"Orlando is a guy that came down a hard road," said director of player personnel Rick Mueller."He was an undrafted kid out of college and earned a spot on the team and also got a starting job. He started for two years and plays with passion."

 

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