Vilma?
 

What should be done with Vilma?

It's almost guaranteed that Vilma is suspended for the season so should we cut him? Keep in mind that even him being suspended would free his cap space up.

Who should the replacement be?

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Vilma has a cap value of ~6mil, if he is cut 3.4mil must be paid to him and count against the cap. The Saints should let Vilma serve the suspension and free the 6mil in cap space completely. The cap room could be used to sign Lofton and give Bree$$$ the money he wants.

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As a side discussion I am much more worried about the players being suspended then every other punishment we have seen so far. For example Harper, Smith, Greer and Jenkins have all been around for bountygate imagine missing those 4 and Vilma.

The way I see it; the suspensions almost have to be staggered. No way all 4 could be suspended at the same time, rather I hope not.

I'm also thinking they may just get away with hefty fines, all except Vilma who had reportedly threw 10K up for grabs.

First we have to wait and see what Goodell has to say about it...

I love vilma for what he's done for our team, hes been the consistent professional ever since he turned up and always led by example.

But that just makes it more difficult because I think now is the time to let him go and i really don't want to say it, but its the truth

He's probably going to serve a lengthy suspension, with his money we could sign drew and also possibly lofton or another MLB

I think it has to be done, that said it will be sad to see vilma go if it happens

I originally thought this would not be as big a deal, but after seeing what they did to Payton and Loomis, I think we are looking at mass suspensions of many many defensive players, with Goodell having no regard for competitiveness. After all, Benson has already sold out the Dome for the year, so what happens competitively on the field to the Saints in 2012 does not matter AT ALL, from a league perspective.

I suspect because of mass suspensions we will have to retool our entire defense with scabs and nobodies for a good chunk of this year. I expect Goodell to throw the book at the Saints, and especially Vilma, and I think that most suspended players will be cut in order to preserve cap space and sign Drew. Based on what the other penalties so far have been, I would not be AT ALL surprised to see Vilma get a suspension so massive that it equals a lifetime/career ban, and he is done with football forever.

That's reason enough for season ticket holders to sue.

all of this because shockey got outshined, outplayed, and replaced by a rookie basketball player that decided to play tight end in the NFL. good luck with your retirement ya damn BUM!!!!

Quit blaming Shockey, that bum Sapp needs to keep his lid shut. I’m not defending Shockey as a person because I think if he wasn’t such a slacker he’d still be on the team but he didn’t snitch, Warren Sapp is full of crap!

Jeremy Shockey wants the NFL to punish network analyst Warren Sapp for saying he

That's a bit incorrect. If Vilma was suspended for the entire season, the Saints would free up $5.4M in salary cap, since they would still be "on the hook" for the $1.2M annual signing bonus salary cap hit.

Only the base salary cap hit of a suspended player won't count towards the overall salary cap, but bonuses still do - like a prorated signing bonus in Vilma's case.

From a purely financial standpoint, the best case scenario for the Saints would be if Vilma was suspended for the whole season, because that scenario would open up the most salary cap room - $5.4M.

But if Vilma is back to a 100% health, then naturally it would be best if he didn't receive a suspension and maybe just a fine, and would go on to play as the starting MLB in the coming season.

Cutting Vilma would be the middle option between these two opposites.

Lifetime? Vick is STILL regarded with prejudice by the Federal government. He can't serve on a jury and I know there other entitlements as a citizen he lost for a while. Not only is he back in, he also got an ataboy from the Prez. Year suspension likely, fine yes... but beyond that, I just don't see it.

I fully expect Vilma to get at least a year suspension; I would not at all be surprised if Goodell slaps him with a lifetime ban.

release vilma and harper. bring in hawthorne or lofton and dwight lowery

That's just crazy!

We don't know yet if Vilma will get any punishments from the BountyGate and what they'll be in nature if he gets some. Also, we don't know what his health status is, so he might very well be worth keeping.

Releasing Harper would bring with it a little over $17M cap hit, which would in practice bankrupt the Saints when it comes to their salary cap and ability to sign any players - they'd in fact have to release quite a few players just to cover that $17M cap hit.

There's not enough restructuring that can be done to recover from Harpers cap hit upon release

We may indeed be looking at suspensions but we don't know how many of those players are still actually on our team. I'm not going to jump to conclusions.

@FinSaint thanks for the education on harper release. maybe a trade then? Vilma's cap number exceeds his value given his recent play, injuries, and upcoming suspension. purging this underperforming defense is needed to pay brees. if not this team die an ugly death this year.

The Saint's would be "on the hook" for that same sum if they were to trade Harper, because that is the amount of guaranteed money left on his contract.

If Vilma is suspended for the year and he remains on the Saints' roster, it will free up over $5M in salary cap, so I would not do anything hasty in regards to Vilma.

I think Vilma should retire if he is suspended. Regardless we have to let him go,he’s become to fragile. I love his veteran mind but his body is finished imho. As for harper,I don’t really like him as a safety in real life but man he’s a beast on Madden. To bad he’s not as good in real life as he is in madden. To me we need some one with great hands at strong safety,not so much of a hard hitter. I wish we could get Troy Polamalu,he is my most favorite safety of all time.

I bet Vilma gets a year.