When the Saints go marching out....

The NFL franchise displaced by Hurricane Katrina may not return to New Orleans even when the SuperDome is fixed.

Saints owner Tom Benson declared this week that nothing will be decided on the franchise's future until after the season. But ESPN's Chris Mortensen reports that, based on information from key league sources, the team has probably played its last game in New Orleans.

According to Mortensen, San Antonio is a likely home for 2006 and Los Angeles is the preferred destination beyond that. The NFL could still include New Orleans as a Super Bowl site when the city is reconstructed, and expansion might even be a possibility, but that's 10 to 15 years away.

If the Saints relocate to San Antonio or elsewhere, New Orleans has only a slim chance of ever seeing another NFL team, according to a major sports consultant.

Marc Ganis of SportsCorp Ltd. in Chicago served as a consultant to Cleveland in 1996 when that city's NFL team moved to Baltimore and the NFL guaranteed Cleveland a new team and allowed the city to keep the Browns' logos, colors and nickname.

Earlier this week, New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin said he wanted the "Cleveland deal" if the team relocates. Gov. Kathleen Blanco said she supported Nagin on such a plan.

But Ganis questioned the strategy.

"If I were advising Mayor Nagin, I would have given him the same advice that someone should have given the mayors of Baltimore and Houston," Ganis said. "Hold on to what you have. Do everything you have to hold on to what you've got, because there's no certainty to what will come next or what will come at all."

Houston lost the Oilers to Tennessee and later got the expansion Texans.

Ganis said New Orleans is already viewed as a small market struggling to remain financially competitive -- and most NFL owners oppose expanding beyond the present 32 teams.

I am sure no matter how small the market, the team's fans would be upset by a move. Remember the days of the aints when fans wore bages over their faces? The team has a following whether they have been a winner or most of the time a loser.

Hat tip- Outside the Beltway