Actually I am surprised so far.
Actually I am surprised by this team despite injuries and their front office.
Coaches have not been perfect but
- Injuries are expected even to starters but multiple starters injured at one position is bad luck. Multi imjuries knocking 4 or 5 players from one position is dumb founding and rarely heard of.
Then there is our front office moves over the past 5 years.
-About 25% of our cap is playing else where or asking people if they want paper or plastic with that. That is some serious talent upgrades we are missing on the depth chart.
Get the Picture? Taken all the cheap FA and UDFA the saints must sign even to field a team, I am actually find myself tipping my hat to the coaches. A small tip but a tip of the hat none the less.
The saints front office needs to stop screwing up and learn to use the draft better to control the cap.
- Strike outs on so many draft picks in recent years. NFL teams are made up of a a lot of players taken in rounds 3 - 5. This is why most successful teams in the NFL keep chasing division titles. That is why multiple picks in these rounds are stock piled.
- Now trade skills is a thing the New England Patriots understand. 4th and a 5th for solid proven players that will play and be part of a active rotation.
Acquired CB Eric Rowe from Philadelphia for a conditional 4th round
Acquired DE/OLB Barkevious Mingo from Cleveland for a 5th round
Results off all the trading activity may be looked upon as unsuccessful by most and in regards to starters that is fair. BUT it is the players obtained either by the draft or by trade that give them the depth to afford striking out on higher risk picks. It is all about the quality of the bench.
Now the Saints front office moves of the past few years is unacceptable.
2017 is the year the Saints front office can finally start correcting the errors of the past.
Cap Hell in 2017
The Saints should be just under $8 million in dead money – about 5.5%
FA spending cash in 2017?
With some moves such as releasing Byrd and few others, the Saints could enter the 2017 free agency something in the neighborhood of $30 to 40 million to spend
Coaches have not been perfect but
- Injuries are expected even to starters but multiple starters injured at one position is bad luck. Multi imjuries knocking 4 or 5 players from one position is dumb founding and rarely heard of.
Then there is our front office moves over the past 5 years.
-About 25% of our cap is playing else where or asking people if they want paper or plastic with that. That is some serious talent upgrades we are missing on the depth chart.
Let me repeat that
Saints have $40 million in salary-cap space going to players no longer on the team
Over the past two seasons, that figure is closer to $70 million:
Get the Picture? Taken all the cheap FA and UDFA the saints must sign even to field a team, I am actually find myself tipping my hat to the coaches. A small tip but a tip of the hat none the less.
The saints front office needs to stop screwing up and learn to use the draft better to control the cap.
- Strike outs on so many draft picks in recent years. NFL teams are made up of a a lot of players taken in rounds 3 - 5. This is why most successful teams in the NFL keep chasing division titles. That is why multiple picks in these rounds are stock piled.
- Now trade skills is a thing the New England Patriots understand. 4th and a 5th for solid proven players that will play and be part of a active rotation.
Acquired CB Eric Rowe from Philadelphia for a conditional 4th round
Acquired DE/OLB Barkevious Mingo from Cleveland for a 5th round
Results off all the trading activity may be looked upon as unsuccessful by most and in regards to starters that is fair. BUT it is the players obtained either by the draft or by trade that give them the depth to afford striking out on higher risk picks. It is all about the quality of the bench.
Now the Saints front office moves of the past few years is unacceptable.
2017 is the year the Saints front office can finally start correcting the errors of the past.
Cap Hell in 2017
The Saints should be just under $8 million in dead money – about 5.5%
FA spending cash in 2017?
With some moves such as releasing Byrd and few others, the Saints could enter the 2017 free agency something in the neighborhood of $30 to 40 million to spend
Now do not screw this up yet again
Repeat after me 2017...2017...2017
Total Comments 8
Comments
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Excellent post as always Hagan.
I don't blame the coaches for what's happening right now. But I do have some serious doubts about Joe Vitt and Bill Johnson. In my opinion, our defensive line and linebackers haven't lived up to the draft picks spent on them. And it's hard to remember a time when they've played a complete game as a unit. Even when they've played well, which isn't often, they still manage to give up a big play, sometimes costing the game.
And how Greg McMahon still has a job just baffles me. Our special teams are always in the bottom half of the league and sometimes it's downright embarrassing. The only thing I can figure is that he's still living off "The Ambush".
As far as the cap space goes, we've known for a decade that Loomis was kicking the can down the road, to pay the piper some other time. Most of us have gotten pretty excited about some of the big name free agents he's been able to sign after hearing all offseason that the Saints were in Cap Hell. AsylumGumbo's posts about the cap are correct as long as player restructure they can keep moving the money down the road. After Drew's restructure, the team even has $7million to spend. They could get a stud if there were one available. Unfortunately, instead of getting the deal done during the offseason, when they could've put that money to good use, it didn't get done until after anybody worthy of that money was already signed by someone else.
Do you have any FA in mind for the available money next season?Posted 09-28-2016 at 07:09 PM by Utah_Saint
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25 players drafted since 2012 and few remain on this team.
We don't even approach Bama and LSU linemen and trench players on draft day. Repeated busts signing in injured vets. This teams biggest problem is the front office.
Second biggest problem is the strength and conditioning coach. second year we are decimated by injuries.Posted 09-30-2016 at 02:03 AM by Halo
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Coaching is and has always been a debatable issue. As they should be.Posted 09-30-2016 at 11:58 AM by hagan714
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Utah_Saint: Do you have any FA in mind for the available money next season?
That is a loaded question even more than ever. with cap going up each and every year it is hard to say who will be available from which teams.
I am looking at
1) Hard to think about FA when the season is going the way it is. Draft position will be everything. The odds of getting a game changer is better than it has been in a long time to met team needs and fits the systems.
Top 5 targets that fit needs and the system
Myles Garrett, DE, Texas A&M, 6-5, 255, 4.40 #15 Jr.
Jabrill Peppers SS/FS/OLB/KR Michigan 6002 205 4.42 #5 rSo
Jonathan Allen DE/DT Alabama 6025 294 4.85 #93 Sr
Marlon Humphrey CB/FS Alabama 6005 196 4.49 #26 rSo
Christian McCaffrey RB/WR/KR Stanford 5115 205 4.48 Jr.
The rest
Jamal Adama, Safety, LSU 5115 211 4.54
Cordrea Tankersley CB/FS Clemson 6002 195 4.48 #25 Sr
Jalen Tabor CB Florida 6002 192 4.50 #30 Jr.
Tre'Davious White, CB, LSU 5111 191 4.48 Jr
Adoree' Jackson CB/WR/KR USC 5105 186 4.43 #2 Jr
Brandon Facyson CB Virginia Tech 6011 191 4.52 #31 Jr
Desmond King, CB, Iowa, 5105 200 4.54
Leonard Fournette I am not forgetting I just do not view him as the answer. I we did we better go after OL big time and SP would need to think about getting rid of Ingram along the way. Leonard is a bigger version of Mark
Dalvin Cook Love the kid but a long list of injury worries over the years
I think this could be a year were many of the OT will end up at OG at the pro level. DT is not really deep either,
If we tank and I can see no reason not to shop the pick and still get a player that has the talent to not only be in the first round in most drafts. Then there are some good players in rounds 2 that will fill areas of need. OG looks to be deep into maybe the 4th.
I am repeating myself I know but, many of these players that fill a need in system they belong in. This a deep talent pool for the saints to dip into. No reason to chase a square peg to fit in a round whole.
2) Teams that will either be against the cap die to a large number of key FA IE Cards
3) Teams that maybe looking to blow their teams up and start over again, IE Browns
Pats have a boat load of free agents and it is worth watching to see what happens there.
Jamie Collins
Dont’a Hightower
Jabaal Sheard
Martellus Bennett
Sebastian Vollmer
Rob Ninkovich.
Malcolm Butler
With that all said I would love to see the saints with a solid run-stopping NT right up front.
Dream come true?
Brandon Williams Ravens. wont happen IMO
Trumaine Johnson of the Rams who is Franchised and will the Rams chase offense over defense?Posted 09-30-2016 at 12:58 PM by hagan714
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The Saints cap position gets a lot better next year. Still not great but more money than they've had for a while. Loomis has been able to bring in some very big FA names in the past. Whether those FAs worked out is another story altogether. With the money available there's no reason they shouldn't be able to bring in a couple proven studs to fill in weak spots on the current roster.
I would like to see the Saints go after TJ Lang in the offseason. I know the Packers players are very loyal so the Saints might have to throw a lot of money at him but based on his past performance and durability, He could be a corner stone for the OLine for years to come.
Kevin Zeitler is another option at guard. He's going to be looking for a big raise from his current salary but his play has shown he's worth it.
Another contract long term contract breakdown with the Chiefs in the offseason was Dontari Poe. So far he's built a great reputation as a run stuffing specialist, an area the Saints haven't been able to fix for many years now.
I'd love to see the Saints bring in any one, or maybe even two of these guys as an immediate fix to some of the more glaring holes. By securing an immediate impact player, it would allow the Saints draft to be more flexible in picking up players that could start right away.
At this point, I don't think anyone can argue that free safety is a weak link in this defense and many people feel this is Jarius Byrd's last season with the Saints. Eric Berry's long term contract with the Chiefs fell through in the offseason and they were only able to sign him to a one year deal. Obviously he's looking for big $, and will get it from someone. I hope the Saints are in the mix.
Calais Campbell will be looking for his last NFL contract. The Cardinals are up against the cap and may not be able to offer him the kind of money he's looking for. That said, whoever does sign him will be betting against father time. That said, I can't help but imagine the pressure the Saints could bring with Jordan, Rankins, Fairley and Campbell.
Just my 2¢.
Anyone else you'd like to see the Saints spend some of that available cap on next season?Posted 09-30-2016 at 04:48 PM by Utah_Saint
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LOL Hagan I said "a small tip of the hat, but a tip none the less" to my wife the other day, about something else unrelated to the Saints that we were talking about, and she LOL'd. It just popped into my head
Great post!Posted 10-01-2016 at 09:56 AM by SaintsBro
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thats funnyPosted 10-02-2016 at 01:11 PM by hagan714
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Utah_Saint I would love a solid veteran in their prime added to the OL. But I would not pass on some of the OT that will play OG on the NFL level. There will be some solid talent through the mid rounds at OG.Posted 10-02-2016 at 01:14 PM by hagan714
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