For the past three seasons the New Orleans Saints held the majority of their training camp at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, W. Va. But this season the Saints are back home in their Metairie training facility and 11 of the team's practices are open to fans. Get your free tickets here.

Scheduled to hold the first practice of 2017 Saints training camp presented by Verizon on Thursday, July 27, Saints fans will have pelnty of opportunities to watch the team practice and get ready for another season with Drew Brees and Sean Payton at the helm.

With the summer practices back in Metairie, fans have the chance to watch rookies like Marshon Lattimore and Alvin Kamara learn and grow. Along with the rookies, fans can see what new players like Ted Ginn Jr.  Jr. and Zach Line bring to the table for 2017.

"Our entire organization is excited to be returning to hold training camp at our facility in Metairie in 2017," Saints Owner Tom Benson said in announcing the move. "This will be a great opportunity for our passionate fans from throughout the Gulf South to be able to experience the fun, excitement and interaction of Saints training camp as our team prepares for what we expect to be a very exciting season."

Being able to hear the coaches teach and the players communicate with each other is something that the average football fan does not get to see. With the team returning back home for training camp this season, fans have the chance to sit right on top of the action. After practice, players will come over to the fan area to sign autographs and take pictures with the fans. There also will be a Fan Fest set up for many of the open practices including the first open practice Saturday, July 29. Anticipation is so high for the return of the Saints that all of the available tickets have been claimed for that first practice. Find the full schedule here.

General Manger Mickey Loomis spoke about the move back to Metairie:

"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 our medical, weight and video facilities, all factors which are integral to supporting the preparations of our football team."

Come out to the 2017 New Orleans Training Camp presented by Verizon to see why being back in Metairie was the number one reason on our countdown.