METAIRIE, La. — At last, an NFL team is showing some genuine interest in 36-year-old, 11-time Pro Bowl linebacker Derrick Brooks.

The New Orleans Saints Tuesday invited Brooks in for a workout after learning that reserve linebacker Mark Simoneau would need surgery to repair a torn triceps.
Brooks, released by Tampa Bay after last season, will work out with the Saints on Wednesday. He has been in the NFL for 14 seasons, all with the Buccaneers, who play the Saints twice a year as a fellow NFC South Division club.
When the Saints studied Buccaneers film last season, they liked the way Brooks played when he was healthy, head coach Sean Payton said.
“We felt like he was still playing at a high level,” Payton said. “He’s an intelligent player, instinctive, a guy that’s really been a pain for us over the years, so we’ve got a lot of respect for his ability.”
Brooks was one of two linebackers the Saints invited to work out, the other being 34-year-old veteran Derek Smith, who has played 12 seasons, mostly with Washington and San Francisco, where he was a regular starter. Smith’s workout is also on Wednesday.
Last season, Smith played in five games with San Diego and one with Miami.
The invitation to Brooks went out only days after his former head coach, Jon Gruden, made a visit to Saints training camp in his new role as a Monday Night Football announcer. Payton and Gruden, friends since their days as assistants on the staff of former Philadelphia Eagles head coach Ray Rhodes, talked about Brooks.
Gruden’s assessment of his former star linebacker “was positive, real positive,” Payton said.
If the Saints are to sign Brooks or Smith, they’ll have to make room on the roster. Payton said the Saints have not yet decided whether to place Simoneau on injured reserve. The Saints also could waive Simoneau and hope to bring him back later in the season when he has healed, as they did with defensive tackle Hollis Thomas when he had a similar training camp injury in 2008.
Simoneau spent last season on injured reserve after having back surgery, but appeared to be making a strong return. During the Saints’ scrimmage on Saturday, he burst into the backfield on a running play, stripping the ball and recovering the fumble himself. Soon after, he left the scrimmage injured.
On Monday, he was excused from practice for the birth of his child.
“He and his wife welcomed their first daughter last night, so the timing was kind of weird,” Saints linebacker Scott Fujita said.
Fujita added that Brooks could very well help the Saints if he’s still in good physical shape.
“He’s a savvy veteran who’s been in this division a long, long time and he’s about as sharp as they get.”
Simoneau was expected to have surgery on Wednesday. On Tuesday, rookie safety Chip Vaughn was scheduled for arthroscopic surgery to repair a minor tear of the meniscus in his left knee, Payton said.
Vaughn was injured late last week, but trainers were unsure whether it was serious enough to require surgery, so they waited a few days to see how Vaughn felt.
Payton said he’d have a better idea of Vaughn’s expected recovery time after the operation.