Zach Strief: 'Saints made it clear they wanted me back'

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New Orleans Saints right tackle Zach Strief knew two things going into the offseason.

Strief, now 32 and heading into his 11th season, knew the team could look very different within a matter of months. That was quickly proven correct when 10-year veterans Marques Colston and Jahri Evans were released, and tight end Ben Watson signed with the Ravens in free agency.

"I think it would be silly for any of us to be surprised at this point," Strief said. "And to be honest with you, (the release of Jahri Evans) was hard, Marques Colston was hard, Ben Watson was hard and he hasn't even been around as long. The guys that you get really close to, it's hard to lose, especially those types of guys that have been pillars here...

"Those are the guys that made us successful, so it's hard to lose them and I feel older and older every day. There's just not a lot of guys left from years past, but that's the nature of it."

Strief also knew the Saints still felt he had something left to offer despite drafting Andrus Peat in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft. So when he left the Saints facility in January, he felt as comfortable as anyone could be in that position.

"I've met with coach Payton the day after the season the last four years ... we had exit meetings, so I get to know pretty quick what they're thinking," Strief said. "I'm fortunate here that those guys have always been honest with me. What they've said has come true, so right or wrong I take it as truth and coach (Payton) said that they wanted me back, so I kind of knew early that would be the case, which is nice...

"If they'd changed their minds two weeks in I wouldn't have been totally shocked but they made it pretty clear they wanted me back."

At the end of last season, Strief said he said he would be happy to be back with the Saints, and only the Saints, even if that meant taking a backup role.

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Right now, he's still the presumed starter at right tackle, but will now go into his second straight offseason presumably fighting off Peat for the starting right tackle spot. Peat played in 12 games last season, starting eight as a backup tackle and guard.

So far, he has not managed to wrestle the position away from the older veteran.

That's a battle that will have to wait until training camp to crank up, as the limited nature of OTAs don't really show the true development of an offensive lineman.

"I think two weeks into training camp you start getting an idea of how things are coming together, because even in OTAs it's so different from actual real football for us and I think it's hard to make a determination," Strief said. "We have a ton of talent. ... I think none of us were real happy with how it went last year. ... coach (Dan) Roushar has already pushed us quite a bit and I think that will pay dividends."

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