Saints moving training camp back to New Orleans area

After three years of starting the season at The Greenbrier in West Virginia, Sean Payton is keeping the New Orleans Saints at home for training camp.

Payton announced on Thursday that 2017 training camp will be held at the team's facility in Metarie, a suburb of New Orleans. The Saints previously held camp in Metarie from 2009-13 and from 2003-05, prior to Payton's arrival.

General manger Mickey Loomis sent out his gratitude to The Greenbrier and the West Viriginia governor for their hospitality over the past three summers.

"We first want to thank Governor Jim Justice and everybody at The Greenbrier, as well as all of our fans who attended training camp there for such an outstanding experience," Loomis said in a statement, according to Herbie Teope of The Times Picayune. "Jim, his staff, and the community went above and beyond to embrace our organization and create a great environment for our football team.

"However, we have decided that holding training camp at our practice facility is the right thing to do for our club at this time, where we have the combination of an indoor practice facility in the case of inclement weather as well as access to all of the state-of-the art technology in areas such as our medical, weight, and video facilities - all factors which are integral to supporting the preparations of our football team."

The Saints went 7-9 and missed the playoffs in each of the last three seasons after holding training camp at The Greenbrier.