Shaun Rogers ranked 7th
 

Calais Campbell is the only guy I'd be interested in.

I don't know... there's something about Garay that makes we wanna see him wear the b&g uniform next year... another former Chargers' FA signing with the Saints. ;-)

This is how stats can be deceptive ... he ranks 7th when you skew the list among free agents, but he'll rank further down on a list of the league's defensive interior lineman ... he's the Saints highest rated defensive player, but averages only 20 snaps a game ... a big guy to clog up the middle, but I ga-ron-tee you give him a juicy contract he'll be a bust ... been there, seen it with this guy.

Been there,done that.

Cue the beautiful bean footage of Charles Grant!!

Why would we resign him or Franklin, there was absolutely NO penetration up the middle at all last year.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I wouldn't mind it if they re-signed Franklin to be a run-stuffing DT, because he does that job well. Also, he is the younger of the two, and to me he seemed to be more motivated in playing "within the system" than Rogers did. Of course, re-signing him would have to be paired with the Saints either having a more pass rushing DT in the rotation for subbing Franklin out when the situation requires it or to pair him with a predominantly pass rushing DT (i.e. not Ellis).

Franklin had a $4M salary last season (base: $1.25M + signing bonus: $2.75M), which was the best deal he could find in the FA market - actually the only other offer he received except for returning to SF. Therefore, after the average season he had with the Saints, he might be willing to re-sign for less money because of the low demand for his services.

And yes I did say "average" season, because he is not a pass rushing DL, and if the Saints picked him up to be one - they didn't do their homework. He was very good in SF being the NT in a 3-4 base system where his main job was to stuff the middle, so that the great OLBs of SF could focus their attention on the outside threats and the pass rush.

He was much better in the 3-4 base, and that is why I think that if he does receive offers - they'll probably be from teams running the 3-4 defense and looking for a stout NT to anchor their D-line.

Surely there's a rookie or UDFA out there that can do it cheaper. Then we use that money to help fix our defense. Give a big fat guy the league minimum and then go get another one for the rotation. We're still saving money and can afford to upgrade the LB'ers in free agency.

I seriously doubt that there's an UDFA out there with better run stopping ability than Franklin, definitely cheaper ones, but not as good.

If the Saints are lucky, Franklin could be had for as little as $2.5-3M for a single season, and for that price he'd be really good value for the money - that's like 2% of the cap.

I would let a 3/4 defense have him since we are a 4/3, he did not do well in our 4/3 and someone who could excel could earn that spot for that money. I had high hopes for the both of them, well that was all it amounted to was hope, not production.