NEW ORLEANS -- Former Saints defensive end Joe Johnson says he knows why general manager Randy Mueller was fired this week.

	Johnson

Mueller broke off negotiations with Johnson and his agent and lost the two-time Pro Bowl player to Green Bay, a move that likely cost him his job, Johnson said.

In March, after Mueller ended talks with Johnson's agent, the Packers quickly came along and signed him to a six-year, $33 million contract.

"A good negotiator would have never let me get out of New Orleans," Johnson told the New Orleans Times-Picayune Friday. "The Packers didn't let me get out of Green Bay. So if I was the priority that Mueller and everybody else said I was, then a deal should have gotten done one way or another. I just chalk it up to bad negotiating on his part."

Had Mueller not ended negotiations, Johnson said he was very close to signing a multiyear deal with the Saints and had no intention of testing the free-agent market.

"Basically, I was told the team was going in a different direction and that I should do the same thing," Johnson said. "So I did. That came out of nowhere. I don't know if it was a negotiating tactic or what, but if it was, it was a bad one."

Although Johnson agreed to a contract with the Packers, he didn't actually sign the papers until more than a week later and said the Saints could have kept him had they been willing to match Green Bay's offer.

Mueller said he was not willing to ante up an additional $2 million from the team's original offer to retain Johnson.

"Joe's comments bare no response," said Mueller. "Players have agents for reasons, and agents should be allowed to do their job. I wish Joe the best. The money we saved will allow the Saints lots of cap flexibility in future years."