Twenty years after folks in New Orleans spent plenty of time worrying about the Saints possibly leaving town, the topic has returned to the radar screen.

Jeff Duncan of the New Orleans Times-Picayune writes that a new lease for the Superdome, which has been fully negotiated, hasn’t been signed because of pending deals regarding related properties.

The other agreements relate to Benson Tower, Champions Square, and the Saints’ practice facility.

The state, predictably, wants to sign the Superdome deal before focusing on other talks. The team, just as predictably, hopes to leverage the Superdome deal to get better terms on the three incomplete agreements.

“Tying Benson Tower and Champions Square to the broader stadium arrangement is not a windfall,” Saints spokesman Greg Bensel told

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