The appeal involving the four-game suspensions of Deuce McAllister, Will Smith and Charles Grant have not concluded and the hearing in Manhattan is still in progress. The hearing may have been adjourned until Wednesday.
The duration of the hearing suggests the players are pulling out all he stops in an effort to avoid being forced to sit out four games without pay. The players tested positive for a banned diuretic (diet pill) this summer.
Neither NFL officials nor Saints officials would comment on the proceedings, which are confidential.
Meanwhile, the Saints have placed running back Aaron Stecker on the injured reserve list, ending his season with a hamstring injury. The club replaced him on the roster with free agent Darian Barnes. The Saints also worked out a deal with free agent tailback Mike Bell and have added agent tailback to their practice squad.
Belll, 6-0. 225, showed great promise as a rookie in 2006 with Denver which signed him as undrafted free agent out of Arizona. He rushed for 677 yards and right touchdowns as a rookie before falling off the Broncos; depth chart. He has been unemployed since the Texans released him during training camp when he was playing on a groin injury.
Barnes has bounced around with eight teams since he signed with the Giants in 2002 as an undrafted free agent out of Hampton.
The Saints are without fullback Mike Karney for at least another week while he recovers from a knee injury.
Drew Brees is the leading vote-getter among all NFL players for fan voting for the Pro Bowl. He has 490,844 votes through five weeks of fan voting on NFL.com with three weeks to go. He has a considerable lead among NFL quarterback Eli Manning second with 395,526 votes.
The only other Saints who rank in the top five at their positions are Karney (fourth) and tight end Jeremy Shockey (fourth). Fans may vote for the players by clicking on to NewOrleansSaints.com
The appeal involving the four-game suspensions of Deuce McAllister, Will Smith and Charles Grant have not concluded and the hearing in 
