METAIRIE Will Harris Jersey , La. (AP) — The New Orleans Saints were still waiting to make their first pick of the NFL draft when Thursday night’s first round ended.The Saints are slated to pick late in the second round at 62nd overall on Friday night and will try to acquire a player capable of contributing next season to a team widely expected to be a playoff contender.That’s the only pick New Orleans currently has in the first four rounds because of a series of 2018 trades designed to help the club contend for another title while record-setting quarterback Drew Brees, who turned 40 last January, is still playing.The Saints traded away this year’s first rounder during the 2018 first round in order to move up and select defensive end Marcus Davenport.The Saints gave up their 2019 third-round pick in a trade for reserve quarterback Teddy Bridgewater late in the 2018 preseason. And in the middle of last season, they exchanged this year’s fourth-round pick for former New York Giants cornerback Eli Apple.That left general manager Mickey Loomis and coach Sean Payton limited assets with which to propose a trade back into this year’s opening round. But with five picks clustered in the final three rounds, they might be able to trade up on the second or third days of the draft.An area of immediate concern is along the interior defensive line. Sheldon Rankins, a 2016 first rounder, is recovering from an Achilles tendon tear, David Onyemata is facing a possible suspension of up to four games for a misdemeanor marijuana citation and Tyeler Davison left in free agency.If all goes well http://www.detroitlionsteamonline.com/austin-bryant-jersey , Rankins and Onyemata will both be back and in form by the second month of the season, but that’s no easy forecast. Recovery from an Achilles tendon injury can be tricky. Davison’s decision, which came less than two weeks before the draft, might be the bigger blow. He was a solid role player who started 43 games in the past three seasons.The Saints nearly made the Super Bowl last season, falling to the Los Angeles Rams in overtime of an NFC title game tainted by late-game officiating mistakes that top NFL officials acknowledged after the game.For the most part, New Orleans has been able to keep most of its 2018 team together and moved quickly in free agency to add projected replacements for the few veterans who left.New Orleans signed running backs Latavius Murray and Malcom Brown, as well as defensive end Mario Edwards, following the departures of running back Mark Ingram and defensive end Alex Okafor. And when center Max Unger retired Max Scharping Jersey , the Saints signed center Nick Easton. DETROIT (AP) — Mike Cofer, a Pro Bowl linebacker who played a decade with the Detroit Lions and is second on the team’s career list in sacks, has died. He was 58.The Lions said Cofer died Thursday. Cofer’s son Phil plays basketball for Florida State. The school said he found out about his father’s death after the Seminoles‘ victory over Vermont in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. Chuck Walsh, a Florida State spokesman, said Mike Cofer had been dealing with a long illness.Cofer played 123 games with the Lions from 1983-92. He’s the only linebacker in team history to reach eight sacks in a season. He did it four times.“Mike was the definition of the perfect football player,” former Lions quarterback Eric Hipple said in a statement. “His attitude matched his ability and he gave 100 percent in everything he did. The same goes for his care and attention for fellow players, fans and people in general. He brought smiles and joy to those he interacted with and was not only a great player, but also a wonderful man.”A Knoxville Brian Burns Jersey , Tennessee, native, Cofer played at Tennessee. He was drafted by the Lions in the third round in 1983, and he was a member of the team that went to the NFC title game at the end of the 1991 season. He received Pro Bowl honors during the 1988 season.He finished his career with 62 ½ sacks.“I was truly blessed to have had the chance to coach Mike,” former Lions coach Wayne Fontes said. “He had such tremendous character. When you heard people talking about a player who always gave 100 percent, it was Mike.”Phil Cofer missed Florida State’s game Thursday with an injured right foot. Coach Leonard Hamilton said he will remain with the team for a second-round game Saturday against Murray State.Hamilton called Mike Cofer “one of the most competitive human beings that has ever played in the NFL.”“He is a guy who had to endure an unbelievably challenging debilitating disease that mentally and emotionally was draining in itself, but the physical toll it took on his body is beyond anything that you possibly could explain,” he said. “And he never complained. He always faced it every day with the heart of a lion http://www.pantherscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-greg-little-jersey , with tremendous amount of courage, and he passed that same mental and emotional aspect over to his son, Phil.”“He always challenged Phil, and he always encouraged him to play with the heart of a lion, and without making any excuses for anything at all. And Phil’s attitude has been as good as anyone that I’ve ever coached in my whole coaching career.”Cofer is survived by his wife, Reba, and sons Michael and Phil.