Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

NEW ORLEANS -- Now that the Super Bowl is over, it’s time to start thinking about the offseason.

Free agency doesn’t start until mid-March, but we might as well start the speculation process. And we might as well start it with an intriguing piece of speculation.

Actually former New Orleans quarterback and current WWL Radio host Bobby Hebert started it when I joined his show last week. Hebert asked for my thoughts on the Saints pursuing Baltimore safety Ed Reed, who is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent.

Even though we still don’t know who New Orleans’ defensive coordinator will be or exactly what the defensive scheme will be, there are a lot of reasons why adding Reed would make sense.

First off, he’s a Louisiana native and he might be attracted to the possibility of finishing his career at home. Second, Reed looks like he still has something left in the tank physically.

But, perhaps most importantly of all, Reed would bring swagger and leadership to a defense that was horrible last season.

While the other three NFC South teams like to build through the draft and don’t often bring in players in their 30s, the Saints have shown a past willingness to go in the other direction. In 2009, they brought in veteran safety Darren Sharper and he helped get them a Super Bowl title.

The Saints need a lot of other pieces to fix their defense. But adding Reed, even if it’s only for a year, might help speed up the process of improving the defense.

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?NEW ORLEANS -- Now that the Super Bowl is over, it’s time to start thinking about the offseason. Free agency doesn’t start until mid-March, but we might as well start the speculation process. And we might as well start it w
 

that has to be the longest title i have seen here lol

Ed a saint? hmmmm

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?NEW ORLEANS -- Now that the Super Bowl is over, it’s time to start thinking about the offseason. Free agency doesn’t start until mid-March, but we might as well start the speculation process. And we might as well start it w
 

Is he gonna give his hometown team a discount?

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

If we get him at a discounted rate sure, but we need to focus on the D-line

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

Definitely love to have a ball hawk FS again, if only for a year or two but I can't see it happening.

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

I hear he could likely end up w/ his old coach, Pagano, in Indy.

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

Bring him in as both a safety and the DB coach.

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

No, he's good but he's a hundred years old. Why would we want to get another old, expensive safety at the end of his career?

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

Maybe to end up in the same place the last one, Darren Sharper, helped take us to?

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

That's what am thinkin hmm the last playmaking old sagety we brought n helped bring the saints to a SB ala Darren Sharper ! Ed Reed in black and gold would be sick !!! Gah ! !! !

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

Make it happen Loomis, worked out just fine the last time he brought in a safety at the end of their career lets try it again

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

It makes absolutely perfect sense. Except that we have no money... I could see him taking a slight discount, but he's not going to play for free. Still have to lock up Graham aswell, so whatever money we manage to free up is going to be used on his long term deal. The defense is going to have to be rebuilt with young, inexpensive guys.

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

1-We didn't make it to the Super Bowl because of Darren Sharper.
2-He stepped into a substantially better situation. We actually had probowl defensive players back then and didn't finish last in almost every relevant category
3-with precious little cap room available, wasting all of our money on an aging safety, who's not gonna be able to single handedly turn our defence around in one season, is the worst management move i can imagine. Spend that money on improving the d-line.

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

Reed was suppose to retire when sharper got here in 2008. He just can.t stay healthy we have plenty of those. I meen i like the guy had unbelievable carreer. But i would pass.jmo

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

I bet he stays a Raven

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

1. I never said we won the super bowl because of Darren Sharper. Read twice before typing, thanks.

2. Substantially better defense? Basically the same players, but younger. Still had little to no talent at DB. Still had Will Smith, and no pressure from the D-Line.
We blitzed the hell out of everyone. Oh, almost forgot about someone! You must be talking about Charles Grant?? Yeah, substantially better, for sure.

3. I agree, we have more pressing needs, but Harper and Jenkins both graded out at the worst at their positions. Does this mean they are the worst?
No. But a leader can bring alot to a defense. Look at the drop-off in turnovers after Sharper left. We're missing that ballhawk, and if you can't see that you're freakin' blind.

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

I had originally typed out a lengthy response about how we need a pass rush to help our DB's from getting picked apart etc, etc, but then I remembered there is a fantastic video of Sharper at 35 (same age as Reed) following his Super Bowl run...



For the record, I'm not saying Reed isn't an improvement or that he is a bad player, I'm just saying he isn't the answer and it would be a waste of his time and our money.

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

He could mentor a guy like Rambo or some young safety and at the same time play a good safety position for a year or two. Why not?

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

I agree, but it would need to be accompanied with the trade or release of Harper and the move of Jenkins to another position.

But if it could be done in a way that was affordable and if he fits into what the next DC is looking to do with the defense... why not.

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

In Sharper's defense, he had surgery that year and missed almost half of the season and wasn't healthy. And yes I do believe Sharper was a reason we made it to the superbowl. INT vs Jets on the goaline in a game that could have gone either way. The comeback in Miami with the second half int for TD. That's 2 games that without Sharper we could have lost which would have resulted in us not having home field throughout the playoffs. Now with that said I don't think we have a chance getting Reed because if he is not a Raven next year I think the Pats will sign him.

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

According to PFF our safety play was statistically the worst in the NFL . I would welcome anything that would improve that

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

According to PFF every unit on defense was the absolute worst in the NFL.

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

Dont know why people are so against it

Nothing special happened last time we signed a hall of fame safety did it? Oh wait, yeah we won the super bowl

And all you guys that said darren sharper didnt win us the super bowl, you ever thought why manning didnt throw a deep pass until the end of the game, because sharper would make him pay!

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

Go for it.

an aging Safety is better than no safety (which is about what you get out of Harper and Jenkins)

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

I'd like to see Ed Reed play for us.
I don't get to involved in the cost because I don't attend those meetings

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

It's all speculation. You can't give sharper credit for porter's pick in the SB either. Just saying that Reed will be a very high priced upgrade that will shore up one leak on a boat that's riddled with leaks.

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

I dunno... throwing a veteran playmaker into the mix would help.
I'm sure IF he even wanted to play in New Orleans he could be signed on a 1 year type deal.
Sharper wasn't the main reason we won that year but he had a big part to do with our success.

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

Exactly. Chalk it to bad timing. We need to fix the front 7 as much as possible before we worry about the back half. Our DB's are not as bad as most make them out to be. I don't care who we got back there, our front 7 play was the main reason the DB's struggled.

Besides, you are kidding yourself if you think Ed is anything other than a Raven to finish out his career.

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

As far as the super bowl goes, not one person wins a super bowl, you win as a team but Sharper played a major part in winning one. It is no coincidence that defense have gotten worse and worse since he left.

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?NEW ORLEANS -- Now that the Super Bowl is over, it’s time to start thinking about the offseason. Free agency doesn’t start until mid-March, but we might as well start the speculation process. And we might as well start it w
 

yeah, it pasted twice. Sry.

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

That would be a good pick up but I'm pretty sure he'll stay with the Ravens. Unless some team offers him a crazy amount of money. Even if that's the case, he'd be better off retiring the same way Ray did... entire career on one team.

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

$$$$$$
We just don't have it.

Re: Ed Reed to the Saints?
 

Didn't we employ that same philosophy (mentor) with Sharper to Jenkins with poor results? I would welcome Reed but would prefer a younger, healthier ball hawk like Bryrd up in Buffalo.