Saints likely not sold on de la Puente
 

I don't think the contract they gave him proves anything of the sort.

He was an ERFA, which allowed the Saints to sign him on the cheap for another full season to further evaluate his abilities. With the cap as tight as it is, it was only good business to hand him the minimum qualifying tender - just like they did with Amaya.

The contract is basically saying - hey DLP you did great your first year, show us you can do it again and also get better

It's perfectly normal, I'm confident he will earn his contract

Agreed, he bounced around the league never starting, then gets sandwiched between the two best O-linemen (not just OG's) in the NFL and played well.

So was it a mediocre player benefitting from being between two all-world guards, or does he have NFL starter talent?

My gut tells me Tennant probably would have performed similarly.

This brings up an interesting question:
If he is good, do we call him DLP, BDP, BLP, BDLP, BDROFLMAOPBBQ?

well...hes better than tennant who will be our starting guard thank to brees/ condon