Sean Salisbury says.......
 

Important signing for Saints

I have to give kudos to the New Orleans Saints for taking advantage of the San Diego Chargers' mistake of letting Drew Brees go. I don't understand why the Chargers felt it was a good idea to release a 27-year old just a year removed from the Pro Bowl. Brees is an extremely competitive guy who has the talent and intelligence to be a great success in this league, as he's already proven.

It says a lot about his competitiveness for him to take the situation in New Orleans and put it all on his shoulders. That won't be an easy situation for any player, but especially for the quarterback who is going to be the face of the organization. It's good to see that the organization is still able to sign big-name players, despite talk around the league that it might be difficult because the franchise is still in limbo with a split home schedule.

Obviously getting a major talent like Brees is important, but the bigger aspect of this signing for this organization is that it shows it's business as usual for the Saints. This is a very important offseason for New Orleans, because they have to show players and their agents that everything is O.K. The Saints can't afford to sit back and play the pity game, because it could affect this franchise for years down the road. Getting one of the top free agents in the league to sign, especially at such a high-profile position, shows the team is moving forward.

This signing is also going to have a huge impact on the draft, because the Saints were more than likely going to select Matt Leinart of USC with the No. 2 pick. Now they won't need to, because they already have their quarterback of the future.

If I were GM Mike Tannenbaum of the New York Jets, I would immediately call the Saints and start discussing a trade for the No. 2 pick. The Jets should offer the fourth pick in the first round and their second-round pick for the opportunity to draft Leinart. This would give them a chance to get the young, exciting face at quarterback that they haven't had in years.

If they want they can still let Chad Pennington open the season as the starter to see if he brings up his trade value, which would give Leinart a chance to learn the game on the sidelines like Carson Palmer, another former Heisman Trophy-winning USC quarterback. Or they could just throw Leinart into the fire and let him learn on the fly. Either way, they would have the quarterback position set up for the next 10 years, barring injury.

With the Jets' pick, the Saints could draft offensive lineman D'Brickashaw Ferguson, defensive end Mario Williams or linebacker A.J. Hawk. Any of those three players would represent major position upgrades for the Saints and would make Brees' life that much easier.


This was taken from ESPN.comInsider so I don't know how many of you have seen it. I know TheDeuce has posted alot from there so if it was already posted whoops!

Also, for this new thread what does everyone think of Brodie Croyle if we can get a 3rd round pick.

RE: Sean Salisbury says.......
 

haha I was just about to post this article mighty. But a few things I noticed about this:

This would be amazing. Look at our biggest holes as of right now. We have landed Brees, so the QB position is pretty much filled (excpet I think we need to find a new backup). As a result, our biggest holes now are at LB, OC, DT, and then OT. It would allow us to draft either Hawk or Brick, then take Mangold in the second along with another LB. This is starting to look like a reeeeeeeeealllllllly good situation for this franchise! I'm getting pumped just thinking about it. Getting Mangold would solve our center problems. Getting Hawk and/or another LB in the second round would be a HUGE upgrade over our current LB situation. If we don't draft Hawk, then we could fill our OT hole with Brick. Brick and Jammal Brown on the ends???? That's just plain nasty. Then with Mangold on the center, and Jacox and Holland/Mayberry at guards, I think we would have one of the most talented and youngest/most athletic lines in the NFL. Additionally, the offseason would bring us Scott Fujita on the outside (at the very worst, a good starter who will play every game and be dependable) and then maybe Hawk (arguably one of the best LBs to come out in recent years) and perhaps another LB (D'Qwell, Abdul, Howard). These guys would compete with Watson for the WLB position. That's pretty solid. Then you can see us using the rest of the draft for DL or CBs (which happen to have some pretty good depth this year). UNBELIEVABLE. I know I probably shouldn't, but dammit I feel optimistic.

RE: Sean Salisbury says.......
 

Yeah Deuce I thought you had already done it because I had been out for the day, but just to agree with a few of your points Ferguson is just a monster, but so is Hawk. It would be a win win with either one. Getting depth or just adding a solid LB in the early 2nd round would be great. Mangold is a beast also. I am scared he may go late 1st round. This is getting very exciting!

I posted a day or two ago that I was not going to get overly excited unless we made a splash in free agency and the draft. Fujita was just a ripple, but Brees is a cannonball-type splash. This is setting us up to make a tidal wave in the draft. It's o.k. to feel optimistic. I really had my heart set on Leinart, but I'll take an established QB (even though there are questions about his injury) any day of the week. The draft is now going to get very, very interesting.

This is THE most important free agency move I've ever seen this organization make. I'm feeling really optimistic about the direction we're heading in.

Today I feel like we aren't forced into only one realistic draft pick.

Kudos to the Loomis, Payton and even Benson.

i am with you sir

Ditto. By signing Brees, we have immediately addressed a position that has pretty much been neglected for decades, and coupling that with our amazing opportunity in the draft, we now have the chance to make a haul in this year's draft that will allow us to nab perhaps three players who can be BIG TIME contributors for this franchise into the future.

sean salisbury also predicted that we would take mario williams which would not be a bad pick up at all. we need to replace howard anyway. 6'7 295lbs. 4.7 in the 40 yd. dash, pretty scarry coming around the end for any qb, including mr. vick

No, Williams would be an AWFUL pick. DE is our most solid position. Out of all the problems this team has, why would we waste our best pick for the best position on our team? And we already have replaced Howard, the guy's name is Will Smith.

I just don't think those guys understand how bad our LBs, DTs, CBs, and certain OL spots really are. Those holes are so obvious, that there should be no reason why we don't address them with our first-round pick.

I might go along with the Mario pick if we switched to a 3-4 scheme and used Mario strictly for pass rushing. I wouldn't be in favor of drafting another quality player at DE in a 4-3 scheme. Way too many other areas of need.

i agree with thedeuce but i wont be making the decision on april 29. i just hope they agree with you and take a.j. hawk. even if he is not our biggest need, ithink we need a face for our defense, and who better than a fired up young hard hitting lb.

If LB is not one of our biggest needs now, I don't know what is. Maybe DT, maybe OT or OC. But I would think that looking at our piss poor linebacking corps (Watson, McKinnon, Bockwoldt [who by the way is just awful], Melton), LB has to be our biggest area of need. Fujita can play, and I think that Watson is a decent starter, but he could be upgraded, and we definitely need another guy who can play.

preaching to the choir big daddy, no one is more anxious to buy a hawk jersey than me

BMG, I think you read my mind. I'm not saying I want to draft Mario Williams, (I'd rather have Hawk or Ferguson now) but IF they did draft him, it could very well mean the Saints are making the switch to a 3-4. They could move Williams or Smith to OLB with Fujita on the other side. That would leave whoever is left out of Williams and Smith to play end, Grant on the other end, and a cluster of people for the middle. Courtney Watson could flourish in a 3-4 at ILB with another strong veteran player there. However, the Saints lack a true nose tackle for the system. There are many scenarios that can be played out. Things are getting extremely interesting.

D_it_up, We're definately on the same page. I think if we were serious about converting to the 3-4, we would have made a real move on Kemoeatu from the Ravens.

As of now, the only guys I can think of that could anchor the NT are Sam Adams (maybe), Grady Jackson (think he'd really talk to the Saints again?) or drafting Ngata. I'm not opposed to switching over, but without a true NT, I don't think we can justify taking Mario. He's an exciting player, but not so exciting that I want 3 elite players sharing 2 spots.

The only other scenario I can see is us dealing Charles Grant (which I'm not in favor of at all). Grant is worth a 1st round pick. In that scenario we might be able to swing Mario and Ngata in round 1 and pick up the best LB left in round 2.

OK,

I haven't heard any talk of who would want Brooks if we signed Brees in the past few days. Are we planning on keeping Brooks in case Brees' shoulder can't take the enormous amount of sacks he will endure from our crap O-line? The trade with the Jets would be great so we can get Fergeson, that freak TE from the combine, and hopefully Mangold along with a couple LBs.