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The city of New Orleans celebrates their Super Bowl champion Saints with a parade.

The season is over, but the real activity of the offseason isn’t far off. With that in mind, here is a list of key offseason dates.

Feb. 24-March 3: NFL scouting combine

March 5: Free agency begins

March 21-24: NFL owners meeting

April 22-24: NFL draft

So Julius Peppers wants out of Carolina -- again? This time, I think he’s going to get his wish.

Peppers said the Panthers have been silent about their plans. He can become an unrestricted free agent unless the Panthers use the franchise tag on him for a second straight season. That’s going to cost more than $20 million.

I still think there’s a chance the Panthers may use the tag on Peppers, but trade him before they have to pay him. Where does Peppers end up? There’s been speculation about New England and Philadelphia and there were rumblings about Dallas last year.

But I’ve got a suggestion. Actually it comes from television colleague Ed Werder. As we rode down in the elevator at our hotel yesterday, Ed suggested the Saints should sign Peppers because they could use an elite pass rusher to go with Will Smith.

Not saying it will happen or that the Saints are interested in Peppers. But I think they should at least ponder Werder’s idea and I think New Orleans would be a good spot for Peppers. First, the Saints are the champions, so he’d be going to a very good team. More importantly, Peppers could finally maximize his potential.

Peppers is a guy who a lot of people say takes plays off. New Orleans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is a guy who doesn’t let players take plays off. He lit a fire under Smith and Charles Grant this season. Imagine what he could do with Peppers?

Drew Brees breaks down the key plays from the Super Bowl.

• Saints kicker Garrett Hartley talks about his three big field goals in the win over the Colts. Hartley talks about having the confidence to make the kicks.
• Saints center Jonathan Goodwin talks about how it feels to win the Super Bowl, saying it's one of the most amazing moments in his life. Goodwin talks about the great success the Saints' offensive line had protecting QB Drew Brees.
• NFL on FOX analyst Brian Billick talks about how the Saints dominated the second quarter and then made the huge call to start the second half with an onside kick. Billick also address the different looks the Saints defense showed Colts QB Peyton Manning.
• ESPN NFL analyst Cris Carter talks about the new defensive wrinkles the Saints kept putting into the game in the second half and how that affected Colts QB Peyton Manning. Carter breaks down the key interception that sealed the win for the Saints.
• ESPN NFL analyst Mark Schlereth talks about the great job the Saints' offensive line did protecting QB Drew Brees. Schlereth says it was a courageous effort by Colts DE Dwight Freeney but he wasn't as good in the second half.
• ESPN NFL analyst Ron Jaworski breaks down the performances of Saints QB Drew Brees. Plus, Jaworski says Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams had a great game plan and his team executed it to perfection.
• Hall of Famer and ESPN NFL analyst Mike Ditka says the hero for the Saints is head coach Sean Payton, who had the complete vision and who took less money to bring in defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.
• ESPN NFL analyst Herman Edwards talks about the adjustments the Saints were able to make and the great job they did all game tackling. Edwards says a turning point in the game was the Colts' three and out after stopping the Saints at the goal line.

• Saints RB Reggie Bush talks about the "gutsy" play calling of Sean Payton, the consistency of Drew Brees and being in the city of New Orleans.
• Saints LB Scott Fujita says the Super Bowl win was about more than just football and comments on how the defense kept Peyton Manning in check in the game.
• John Clayton discusses Peyton Manning's performance, Sean Payton's coaching decisions, Dwight Freeney's injury, the key plays of the second half and the kicking game.
• SaintsReport.com's Mike Detillier breaks down New Orleans' Super Bowl win and the party scene in the Bayou.

Saints cornerback Tracy Porter breaks down his interception and return for a touchdown in the Super Bowl.

MIAMI -- On the very first question of his Monday news conference, not even 12 hours after his team had won Super Bowl XLIV, Sean Payton suddenly had to face the future.

He was asked about how the Saints would respond to the challenge of following up a championship season, a challenge that’s been difficult for most recent winners. Payton would have been well within his rights to say something like, “Please, let us enjoy this for at least a day.’’

But he didn’t. He made mention of the fact the Saints have a young team and a steady Drew Brees, who now officially has joined, if not surpassed, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady on the list of the game’s elite quarterbacks. That’s a good start right there, but history hasn’t always been kind to teams that finish at the top of the NFL when they come back for the next season.

Especially teams that finish at the top of the NFC South. Prior to the Saints, the NFC South has had two Super Bowl teams. The 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers won it and the 2003 Carolina Panthers lost it. Neither came close to even getting to the game the next season.

Repeat champions are rare in NFL history. They’re non-existent in the NFC South. Since the division came into existence in 2002, no team has been able to win it in back-to-back seasons. In fact, the general trend is for the last place team to win it the next season and fall off greatly the season after that.

Keep in mind, the Saints finished fourth in the NFC South last season. Should the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who went 3-13 this season, be waiting for the crown? Probably not. But anything can happen in the NFC South.

The Saints are very good, maybe great. Payton’s right when he points to Brees as the first reason this team can be good for the long haul. Then you look at other young core players like Jonathan Vilma, Tracy Porter, Sedrick Ellis, Marques Colston, Robert Meachem and Jahri Evans.

It’s hard to picture the Saints just crumbling next season. But it’s not all that hard to picture them being challenged in the NFC South. The Saints are going to carry the target that comes with winning a Super Bowl and that means they’ll get the best from opponents every week.

And it’s not like the rest of the NFC South is weak. The Falcons and Panthers both slipped a bit this season after making the playoffs last season. But you can look at Atlanta and Carolina and see strong cores that can be something special if injuries don’t get in the way again.

Carolina’s got the best running back tandem in the league in Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams, a monster of a receiver in Steve Smith and a defense led by Jon Beason. If coach John Fox can just find a quarterback, the Panthers could be a big factor.

The Falcons have a quarterback in Matt Ryan and big-time targets in Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez. They remind me a bit of the 2008 Saints -- all offense and not enough defense. You can bet that the Falcons are going to work to improve that defense in 2010. If the Falcons can improve half as much on defense as this season’s Saints, anything becomes possible.

Then there are the Buccaneers. Yeah, they look horrible on paper. But they seem to have found something good in rookie quarterback Josh Freeman. They’ve got 10 draft picks to help improve Freeman’s supporting cast. Even in their current state, the Buccaneers don’t look as bad as the Falcons did after the 2007 season and the Falcons went to the playoffs in 2008.

Anything can -- and does -- happen in the NFC South. Let’s let the Saints enjoy their championship for a bit. But even the Saints have to realize they can’t sit still for long.

They were great this season. But if they don’t work really hard to protect that, there are three other NFC South teams waiting to try to take their place.

MIAMI – After playing a major part in a play that’s sure to live on in highlight films forever, Thomas Morstead clutched an 8x10 black-and-white photo.

He sat on a stage and spoke through a microphone, but only hinted at what he held in his hand and his heart as he spoke to the international media. He talked at length about the onside kick at the start of the second half that basically tilted the game toward the Saints.

“When coach called that play, and it just made sense to me,’’ said Morstead, a rookie punter, who also handles kickoffs. “My special-teams coach in college, who just passed away last year, he always said, 'Be more aggressive than the opponent.' We knew it was open. I was terrified and excited at the same time because I knew we could do it if I executed."

Then, as he walked back to the New Orleans Saints locker room, Morstead showed the picture and began talking from his heart. He began talking about Frank Gansz Sr., the man who helped Morstead and the New Orleans Saints win the first Super Bowl championship in franchise history.

“I was only with him for a year,’’ Morstead said. It was crazy how he would always tell me 'We got one year. We got one year to get you ready’’.’’

Gansz was Morstead’s special teams coach at Southern Methodist University last season. Gansz was a legendary special teams coach who worked on the college and NFL levels for more than 40 years. Gansz died April 27, 2009, the day after the Saints surprised everyone by trading up in the fifth round to draft Morstead.

Gansz had knee-replacement surgery and reportedly died after complications arose.

“As soon as I got drafted I went to the hospital,’’ Morstead said. “He was in a coma. I saw him on a respirator. He used to always tell me 'God had us together for a reason’’, but he never told me what the reason was. Sometimes I feel like ... He's done a lot for a lot of people.’’

Maybe what happened Sunday night was part of the reason Morstead and Gansz were together last season. Morstead said the experience helped prepare him for when Sean Payton called on him to try to line drive a kick and put backspin on it to open the third quarter. Morstead did and it worked to perfection as teammate Chris Reis recovered.

As Morstead got ready to step back into the locker room, he shook a hand and held the picture of Gansz in the other. He opened the door to the locker room and said he had to make a call. He said he was about to call Gansz’s family.

MIAMI -- You’re going to hear a lot about Sean Payton being a gambler in the coming days. Don’t believe a bit of it.

A gambler is someone who is taking a 50-50 (or less) shot. Payton is not that dicey. He’ll only get risky when he’s convinced the odds are slanted heavily in his favor. So how the heck do you explain Payton’s choice to have a rookie punter try an onside kick to start the second half of the first Super Bowl in franchise history?

Throw in the fact you’re playing the mighty Indianapolis Colts and the even mightier Peyton Manning and the odds of such a play working couldn’t have been more than what? 10 or 20 percent? Tops?

"We felt during the week it was more than a 60 or 70 percent chance," Payton said. "We felt not [just] good, we felt real good."

That play, more than anything else that happened Sunday night, is going to symbolize how the New Orleans Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 in Super Bowl XLIV at Sun Life Stadium. Throw in Payton’s decision to challenge a two-point conversion that initially was ruled a failed attempt and a choice to let kicker Garrett Hartley, who is only slightly more than a rookie, kick a 47-yard field goal near the end of the third quarter and you’ve got a lot of big chances.

Enough to subject a coach to months, maybe years, of second guessing if he doesn’t hit on most of them. If you want to get technical, Payton was three out of four on big chances. He also gambled on a fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line when he called a run by Pierre Thomas instead of passing or kicking a field goal near the end of the first half.

Thomas was stopped short of the goal line, but that was the only gamble Payton missed on all night and it turned out that it didn’t really cost him anything. His defense, which was built on gambling, bailed him out and the Saints got the ball back in time for Hartley to hit a 44-yard field goal as the second quarter ended and cut Indianapolis’ lead to 10-6.

That set the stage for the decision that changed the fate of the entire hard-luck New Orleans region and will live forever in Super Bowl lore. In the locker room, Payton told his team he was going to pull one of the biggest surprises in Super Bowl history.

Shock the world, but not the Saints. Not if you really know what Sean Payton’s all about. He’ll take some chances, but only when he knows there’s a decent shot they’ll work.

"Everyone knows that Sean Payton plays hard and aggressively," New Orleans offensive tackle Jon Stinchcomb said. "He plays to win the game."

"That gives us confidence when he does something like that because it shows us how much confidence he has in us," linebacker Scott Fujita said.

It gives some of the Saints confidence, but Payton’s dare was something the Colts and the rest of the world didn’t see coming. And, remember, I said only some of the Saints.

Payton told Thomas Morstead, who had been practicing onside kicks for all of 10 days, that he’d be doing it to open the second half.

"For 20 minutes, I sat at my locker terrified," said Morstead, who handled only punting duties in college. "Not worried, terrified."

Morstead said he came out of the locker room and worked on his punting as the teams warmed up for the second half. He got so caught up in the bluff that he almost forgot to practice kickoffs. He squeezed one in right before it was time to do the real thing.

"I showed them the same thing I’d done on every kickoff all season long -- deep and to the right hash," Morstead said. "That’s all anybody’s seen out of me."

Well, anybody who wasn’t at a Saints practice the last 10 days. What Morstead did next was try to make sure he kicked the ball at least 10 yards and put some backspin on it. That’s exactly what happened. After a scramble, New Orleans safety Chris Reis was ruled to have recovered the ball.

"What we were trying to do was create another series [for the offense]," Payton said.

Another series in which the Saints scored the first Super Bowl touchdown in franchise history on a 16-yard pass from Drew Brees to Pierre Thomas. And a series less for Manning and the Indianapolis offense to work the magic they had all season, but didn’t really have Sunday night.

Yeah, the Colts came right back down the field and scored a touchdown to take a 17-13 lead, but the damage had been done and the tone for the rest of the game had been set by the onside kick. Payton followed that gamble by taking another, letting Hartley kick a 47-yard field goal to cut the deficit to a single point.

What you need to know here is that Payton took a gamble on his field goal kickers earlier this season. With Hartley suspended for the first four games of the season for testing positive for a banned dietary supplement, the Saints signed veteran John Carney. He kicked very well and the Saints stayed with Carney long after Hartley’s suspension was over.

The dilemma was that Carney was dependable, but didn’t have a very strong leg. Hartley continued to kick well in practice. Late in the season, Payton elected to release Carney and make him a "kicking consultant" and let Hartley handle the kicking. Could Carney have made the 47-yarder?

Maybe, but the odds were probably less than Payton’s magical 60 to 70 percent. Hartley made it with ease.

Speaking of chances, Payton took his last big one after Brees hit Jeremy Shockey with a 2-yard touchdown pass to give the Saints a 22-17 lead with 5:42 remaining. Instead of leaving Manning with enough time to beat him with a touchdown, Payton chose to go for the two-point conversion.

At first, Brees’ pass to Lance Moore was ruled incomplete. But Payton, with help from assistant coaches who had seen the replay, challenged the call. The play was overturned and the Saints were given two points.

The gambling didn’t really stop there, but that’s only because it started so long ago. You want to know what Payton’s biggest gamble of all was?

Forget about taking the New Orleans job just after Hurricane Katrina because it was a chance for Payton to move up. And forget about the signing of Brees soon after -- yes, there were questions about his surgically-repaired shoulder, but there had been evidence before that he could play.

Payton’s real leap came after last season when it became painfully obvious he had a great offense, but absolutely no defense. He fired defensive coordinator Gary Gibbs and got Gregg Williams. Once upon a time, Williams had a reputation as a great defensive mind. That got sullied during stints as a head coach in Buffalo and as a coordinator in Washington and Jacksonville. There were also whispers about how Williams could be a bit of a self-promoter and more style than substance.

Payton threw out $250,000 of his own salary to make sure the Saints got Williams. It turned out to be the best bet he ever made.

Williams came in the door preaching aggressive defense. It worked nicely at the start of the season, but seemed to fizzle around midseason when the Saints ran into some injury problems. The Saints got healthier as the playoffs came and played good defense in victories against Arizona and Minnesota.

But Manning wasn’t supposed to be like Brett Favre or Kurt Warner at the end of their careers. He was supposed to be fool-proof, but Williams and the Saints ended up fooling Manning and sealing the game. Tracy Porter picked off Manning and returned it for a touchdown with 3:12 remaining.

"This is kind of a redemption that makes me feel a lot better," Williams said. "I’m really happy for the people of New Orleans. They adopted me. When I came to town in January, I tried to tell them I wasn’t a savior."

No, not a savior, just part of one very calculated gamble that played off.

Rachel Nichols reports on the celebration in New Orleans following the Saints' 31-17 victory in Super Bowl XLIV.

Trent Dilfer on the Saints' 31-17 Super Bowl win over the Colts.

MIAMI –- Mardi Gras can start early on Bourbon Street.

The New Orleans Saints have won the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history. Second-year cornerback Tracy Porter had a huge interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter Sunday night as the Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV at Sun Life Stadium.

Porter’s interception gave the Saints a 31-17 lead with 3:05 remaining. Porter jumped a route and picked off a pass by New Orleans native Peyton Manning that was intended for Reggie Wayne.

That gave the Saints a lead that was too big for even Manning to overcome.

The victory not only gave New Orleans its first championship in any major sport, but also validated Sean Payton and Drew Brees. The victory gives Payton a Super Bowl title and a trip to another NFC Championship Game in his first four seasons. That should move him into the league’s list of elite coaches.

Even more so, the victory clearly puts Brees at the top of his field. He had been mentioned with Manning and New England’s Tom Brady as one of the top quarterbacks in recent years. But the argument against Brees always was that he lacked a Super Bowl ring.

That argument is over because Brees now will have a Super Bowl ring and the city of New Orleans and the Gulf region, which was so crushed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, has something to celebrate.

No need to wait for Mardi Gras.

I'm heading to do interviews. Will be back with lots more in a bit.

MIAMI -- Three things we learned from the first half.

1. The Saints can play defense. All that talk about Peyton Manning eating up the New Orleans defense? Well, we haven’t seen anything close to that. If anything, the big surprise was how easily the Colts ran the ball early on. No doubt the Saints have to make some halftime adjustments to the run defense. But they’ve also got to watch out for the play-action fakes.

2. Sean Payton’s got to be himself. The New Orleans coach is probably going to get lit up if the Saints lose this game. That might be mainly because of his decision to run on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line. Those three points could cost the Saints the game. But it’s more than that. When you’re the offensive guru that Payton’s supposed to be and you’ve got Drew Brees as your quarterback, it’s a bigger issue that you didn’t throw the ball than that you decided not to kick the field goal. Payton needs to stick with the kind of wide-open offense that got him this far.

3. The Saints can win this game. They got crushed in the first quarter and totally outplayed the Colts in the second quarter. The mystique of the Colts and the lack of Super Bowl experience by the Saints should no longer be issues.