BakoSaint

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profoo...on-pierre-paul

Marshon Lattimore is going to the IR. Pierre Paul is being elevated to take his spot.

With the way I know Mickey Loomis thinks, I wonder if the whole Jason Pierre Paul signing was a PR thing. JPP was signed after Lattimore was hurt. But Pierre Paul was put on the practice squad, creating excitement for him to be elevated given his past fame at a younger age. Then ML waited several days for the sting of Michael Thomas going to the IR to fade and speculation about JPP's elevation to simmer, and then he sends Lattimore to the IR and elevates JPP at the same time to soften the blow. It just makes me wonder, was all this PR-first PR-mastery by Loomis? Would he put two stars on the IR at the same time if they were both clearly hurt? Do we actually feel JPP can still contribute, or was his entire signing a ploy to soften the blow of the news that Lattimore is going to the IR?

Speaking of Lattimore, he is hitting that 6-9 year veteran window where most star cornerbacks production often falls off a cliff. He's been good this year but not great. He has begun to be injury prone though, which is often what happens before production falls off a cliff. I am not saying to sound all the alarm bells yet, but I think we should try to avoid restructuring his contract to push dead money into the future. It is very historically possible he won't be very good in 2025. If we restructure his contract this offseason we may push the dead cap to cut him in the 2025 offseason to $32.5 million. If we hand onto him in 2025 by restructuring him again in the 2025 offseason we may face a similar dead cap to move on during the 2026 offseason, about $32 million I believe. It might be smart to just pay his full base salary in 2024 and see how it goes, so the cap hit to cut him or the leverage to ask him to take a pay cut are more in our favor if he continues to be injury prone and decline in 2024. This would also give us some flexibility to see a financial benefit if we decide to trade him, which is something good teams very frequently do with aging corners. I get that Lattimore is only 27, but unfortunately thats not especially young for an NFL corner, it's an unforgiving position.

saintsfan1976

Lattimore has been elite all season.

Getting his ankle rolled on shouldn't qualify as "injury prone".

You don't cut a guy like him unless you have a clear plan behind him. And we don't.

BakoSaint

I know some people don't like PFF, but PFF has Lattimore as a 67.4 and Adebo as a 90.8 this year. Taylor is a 51.1 (getting used to the slot) and Yiadom is an 82.1 in limited snaps.

All injuries contribute to the label injury prone. As you get older, things heal slower, especially for positions like corner where you live on speed and making cuts. And Lattimore is going on IR.

This is Lattimore's 7th year. Most top corners decline greatly after 7-9 seasons. Nothing can change that. We have to be prepared for it. That 67.4 number and two trips to the IR in two seasons have to be our clue. I am not saying cut him. I am saying maybe stop restructuring his contract in ways that assure that when he is washed, we will owe over $30 million in dead cap, and may be forced to pay him $16 million a year after we know he is washed just to delay the cap hit and miss out on a possibly lucrative trade offer if we fall out of contention and have the opportunity to trade a fading star for real assets at a position of depth.

Corner is a position of depth for us. Adebo and Taylor are credible starters. Yiadom would start on many teams. We could benefit from drafting a true slot corner in the middle rounds when Lattimore moves on, but its not a position where if Lattimore is unavailable we have no plan and it will be our achilles heel. Quarterback and coaching are the positions where we lacked depth and had no plan without Brees and Payton.

Sinner

Jason Pierre WHO?

BakoSaint

And now JPP is a Dolphin. Time to call up Michael Strahan and see how that Good Morning American thing is going.

K Major

Good for JPP.

At least he’ll be on a contender with real coaches & not substitute teachers 🤨.

WhoDat!656

Report: Dolphins are expected to sign Jason Pierre-Paul off Saints’ practice squad

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profoo...practice-squad

dizzle88

Aaaaand he's gone.

I called this when we signed him lol

leilung

Can't expect talented guys to languish on the Taxi Squad and not have a playoff team poach em.

K Major

Saints really missed out when they didn’t land a DE prior to
the trade deadline. We have absolutely no effective pass rush.

Cam is starting to show his age & Carl needs help. Payton Turner is Davenport 2.0 who doesn’t contribute.

Did anyone notice how the Bears limited those big runs from Josh D last night?

We’re in trouble.