Bingo!!! Nobody knows what the cap is yet. I thought they said they were going to announce it today but I guess that was just wishfull thinking.

Nicks needs to just hold on to his panties.

This whole cap figure fiasco is pitiful. Goodell needs to be removed. The NFL has gone to s**t since Tagliabue left.

Well I guess ATL is out of the Nicks race. They just signed OG from J-Ville late last night

I understand if we can't make the money work. Nicks is one of the top guards in the league and should be paid like it. What disappoints me is that we haven't really been in contact with him. What's that all about?

Lets try and remember who his agent is, Tom Condon. This dude plays so many games. he could very well be telling Nicks to say what he has been saying. I wouldn't worry to much about any of these negotiations until we hear that they either signed or they are released.

Nicks "In my mind, Im pretty much gone"
 

Carl Nicks: 'In my mind, I pretty much am gone' - NFL - Yahoo! Sports

Not sure if this was posted...pretty much says hes outta here....

Yep, I think the front office has decided we need his 9 million/year to address other positions.

I wanted Nicks, but the upside is we can probably sign a decent to above average OG that fits our system for half that price and we'd be able to resign Brees/Colston/Meachem AND upgrade a spot or two on defense.

Its the downside of the salary cap... Resource Allocation.

Really? Does he really think that a guard is worth 9mil? Hey, power to him if he thinks that's realistic.

If anything, de la Puente has shown that, with good coaching and desire, many overlooked players can have tremendous upside.

I hope his "inner posse" knocks some sense into his head about this. He's 2 more years in a Saints' uniform from being a shoo-in Hall of Famer, which no amount of money can buy, and which will pay a dividend for as long as he lives.

I found it annoying that WWL ran a poll equating Nicks wanting 9 million/year to "providing long term security to his family".

WTF???

As if 7 million dollars per year isn't enough to provide long term security for your family? What an insulting question.

I think the Saints might consider paying him that $8-9M/year if they had the cap for it, and if they hadn't signed Evans earlier to his contract.

De la Puente was really good, but I suspect that losing Nicks will reveal the weaknesses of both Bushrod and DLP, which were masked by the fact that they played next to the best offensive lineman in the league.

Another thing they could do in order to try and fit Nicks' salary under the cap would be to trade Bushrod, since he has only a year left in his contract, and while he is not being payed high LT money, I think he is borderline over-payed as it is. Trading him for a pick(s) and replacing him with either Brown, FA, or a rookie might work if they could then hold on to Nicks. If my calculations are correct, the Saints would save at least around $3.5M towards the cap if they were to trade him.

Whatever happens with Nicks, I'm still happy that the Saints have Evans, because he has shown that he is a true professional. Even after he got the new contract, he hasn't been slacking off. And accepting the restructuring of his contract shows that he is willing to work with the team if needed - even though, as has been discussed, he probably benefited financially from the restructuring.