I disagree, good WRs are a dime a dozen, but truly good guard are a rare commodity, and that is why Nicks would fetch a bigger contract on the open market than Colston.

Nicks is a bigger playmaker in my opinion - in pass protection and run blocking.

I'm a firm believer, we can lose Nicks and keep Meachem and Colston and be Super Bowl contenders with a backup taking over.

If we lose Meachem and Colston and keep Nicks, we won't make the playoffs.

Nicks is worth it and plays a huge part of the offense and Brees success, sure. If I was choosing, I'd go WRs over G in a second.

Nicks WOULD NOT be a probowler if the Saints were 8-8, or if Brees only had 3500 yds.
Nicks WOULD NOT have been a probowler in Cleveland, or Seattle, or St. Louis,
or a host of other mid-line/lower tier offenses. Our success has given him spotlight
and keeps him on the ESPN highlight reel holding his block for 2.3 seconds as
Brees gets rid of the ball. I believe most of these guys fade away when they
leave for the money. Not that they aren't any good, but they knid of need
the rest of what we've got going to help them maintain their elite status.
I'm pretty confident that we could plug another big guy in at guard, and he doesn't
have to be great, and still have success with the diversity Payton schemes offer.
I'm pretty confident that there are 2-3 other Colston-esk type guys that would
gladly step in the gap he leaves in order to snag some Brees TD's.
These negotiations are business. Football for them is a business.
It makes it kind of sweet when you love it.

Yeah, we really saw how Goodwin sucked after he left the Saints!

I think you're giving too little credit to the Saints' system of picking up guys who have raw talent and grooming them to be pro-bowlers - if Nicks goes, we'll see a huge drop off in Bushrod's performances and in the center's as well, who ever he might be in that situation.

Haven't you seen Nicks' mobility in getting after the blocks in run plays?

I have seen Nicks get after it, and it's a beautiful thing.
But there is an entire Sr. class along with a host of 3yr vets that are just
salivating over the idea of stepping into the nest that Nicks built, and prove
that they can do that job too. The rest of our cast just makes it that much
easier for them to actually do it.

Yeah, I'm in no way saying that Nicks isn't replaceable, I was only responding to the notion that Colston and Meachem would be more important to keep around than him.

I think Brees is an unique talent in that he can create chemistry with almost any receiver in a fairly short time span, but we all saw how long it took for the O-line to get their act together last season after losing Goodwin and Stinchcomb in the off-season - it cost the Saints some games, which would've come handy right about the time they had to travel to SF to play the divisional round.

Nicks is the best OG in the entire league. It wouldn't matter whatteam he played for.

He'd also be an elite RT if a team decided to move him there.

To say that Nicks could be replaced easier than Colston is an absolute joke. Most teams rely on the left tackle to protect the QB... but not the Saints. We rely on Carl Nicks. Because of Nicks and Evans, Drew can step up into the pocket and make any wide receiver look good with all of the time he has to throw the ball. People often talk about "system quarterbacks" but if there were system wide receivers then Colston would be the epitome of it.

Team will average 30 ppg regardless to whether or not either will be back. It may make it more stressful, but we'll continue pumping out points. Both replaceable... not that I want either replaced.

Both will be back.

I'm hoping both will be back... God knows the next 2 weeks can't get here soon enough so we can see what contracts get signed and who becomes a free agent. I feel like the Saints should have offered fans Paxil for this off-season lol.