Saints general manager Mickey Loomis is a realist.

He knows the Saints entered free agency with limited cap space and were going to be limited in the things they were going to be able to accomplish. He had his lists of “musts, needs and wants” and made calls on a handful of players, but some of those things simply didn’t work out.

“Man, it feels like every year it’s higher than you expect,” he said Monday at LSU’s Pro Day.

So during the first wave of free agency, New Orleans focused on retaining the players it felt it could not afford to lose and was able to strike a deal with tight end Coby Fleener after losing Ben Watson to the Baltimore Ravens.

Loomis is aware that many fans wanted the team to focus on defense, and he sees the logic behind that thinking, but the team had to make the moves it was able to make.

“We have limitations in resources,” Loomis said. “You have to fill the right hole with the right value. It may end up being an offensive player when you’re looking to help your defense, or when you have a good defense — there’s nothing wrong with getting a good value and a good player.

Now, please tell me why we have limited resources?

Typical condescending rhetoric from a general manager. Yes, we know things don't always go the way we want, or envision. That's not the point, Loomis. You need to find players who make sense as part of the team. What this team does is they throw money at the first person who'll take it, or so it seems.

I think Fleener is just ok, but don't really feel like he was a necessity. It's not just defense we need, there is also the guard problem. If you can't afford any help in any of those areas, then just hold on to the money, and make do with what you have. It isn't fun, but the more you keep spending money on middle of the road players, the more you are prolonging the cap issue. Just my opinion.