NOSaints

One thing you can forget about is a bountiful June 1 free agent market in the NFL, mostly because this year the cuts are unnecessary now that the salary cap is close to $20 million more than it was last year.

Still, there could be several interesting players out there for the Saints, including two at linebacker, a position we really need to improve upon.

San Diego Chargers veteran Donnie Edwards and University of Virginia’s Ahmad Brooks may become available and we should definitely look at the possibility of picking one of them up.

Edwards and the Chargers have reportedly been at odds throughout the offseason and a serious rift seems to have developed between he and general manager A.J. Smith.

Some expect San Diego to either waive or trade the 33-year-old, although Smith denies those allegations.

Edwards is a bit light (6-foot-2, 227 pounds) but has played on the inside of the Chargers’ 3-4 scheme for the last four years and has posted more than 100 tackles for seven consecutive seasons. He played the final 10 games of last season with a torn meniscus (knee) and still registered 112 solo stops.

Brooks may be even more enticing. The 6-4, 260-pounder reportedly runs the 40 in the 4.5-second range.

So how would he be available? Well, Virginia coach Al Groh threw him off the Cavaliers’ roster during spring ball due to an unspecified off-field incident.

Such circumstances have haunted Brooks since he was in high school. The blue-chip recruit was forced to take a prep year before reporting to Virginia because of non-qualifying standardized test scores.

Here are the plusses for Brooks:

He’s a rare talent who has extensive experience playing inside linebacker position.

Before an injury-marred junior year, he was a Butkus Award finalist, first-team All-American and top 10 draft lock.

Because he planned to return to Virginia for his senior season and missed the draft deadline, Brooks will be available in the July 13 supplemental draft.

Brooks currently is working out with Atlanta trainer Chip Smith and has signed with an agent, so there’s no turning back.

The question is, should the Saints draft him and forfeit their first-rounder in next April’s regular draft. new England is eyeing him and they pick in the latter stages of the 1st round.

If they have him rated as high as some do, the freakish talent with good size and demeanor may just be worth it, but after the off-field incident, does he lose that appeal of a high character player that Payton is looking for or was that incident forgettable?