These Saints could use some saving.

Jonathan Vilma could, too.

In that way, the February trade that sent the former Jets middle linebacker to the Saints for conditional draft picks was the perfect swap.

The thud of New Orleans’ disappointing ’07 campaign still echoes throughout the city. Fresh off an NFC championship game berth following a revitalizing 2006 season, the Saints sputtered to a 0-4 start and finished 7-9 in ’07, missing the playoffs after being billed as a legitimate title contender.

Vilma, coming off a season he calls the most trying of his football career, is in the final stages of rehab from knee surgery that was performed after a dead piece of bone dislodged from his knee last October, ending his season after just seven games.

“This past season, it was tough,” said Vilma, who's entering his fifth year. “That was the first time I couldn’t take anything positive from the last season. Regardless of my injury, we were having a tough time. We started 1-5 (before he was injured). The defense wasn’t doing well. That was really tough to swallow.

“So going into this year, it’s almost like starting over. It’s like a clean slate where I just have to understand that last season was a tough one and I just need to learn from that and grow from there.”

With an improved supporting cast around him on defense, most notably first-round pick DT Sedrick Ellis, who was brought in to help keep blockers off the middle ’backer, and what appears to be a successful rehab, Vilma is the key piece to the Saints’ short-term rebuilding project. If healthy, he gives the squad what it lacked most last season and even during its run to the conference championship — a versatile playmaker in the LB corps with Pro Bowl potential.

The Saints and Vilma probably will end up saving each other — a big season could mean a big payday for Vilma, entering the final year of his rookie contract — but don’t tell the 2005 Pro Bowler that. Vilma flatly rejects the notion that he’s some kind of savior for New Orleans’ woeful defense. The way he sees it, the ‘D’ isn’t as bad as its rankings of 26th overall and 30th against the pass suggest it was in ’07.

Jonathan Vilma

“I don’t have to come in and bark orders or anything like that,” Vilma said. “That’s not what I do, it’s not even my personality, but I’m going to do whatever it takes to win. If it means that I need to get on somebody about doing their job because it’s going to help us win, well then yeah, I’ll definitely do that.

“I’m coming in to help the team win. That’s the bottom line for me. I want to help this team win and get to the Super Bowl and win the Super Bowl. That’s what I’m here for.”

Vilma’s vision for his new crew and willingness to publicly put a Super Bowl title at the top of his to-do list could be taken as foolish ambition, but he says he felt the kind of anxiousness pulsating on the field through OTAs that leads him to believe the hunger to be the best is still strong. Those Saints who remain from last season aren’t willing to accept more losing, which should make Vilma’s job much easier.

“I say anxious because no one is really comfortable with what happened last year,” Vilma said. “Even though I wasn’t here, the guys that are still here from last season, you can tell that they’re definitely not OK with what happened. I think guys are looking to come out and prove a point. The point is that it wasn’t a fluke two years ago when they made the NFC championship. It was hard work and it was a lot effort and a lot of talent and a lot of winning, of course.

“I think that you can feel that tension, which is not a bad thing, it’s actually a good thing because it keeps the guys on edge and it keeps the guys focused.”

Hard work, effort, talent and winning — these are Vilma’s most prized football traits and a recipe for success in the NFL.

Vilma embodies hard work, effort and talent. Throw good health into the equation, and the Saints will be winning a lot once again in ’08.