Kudos To Mickey Loomis
 

For the first time since he has been GM, Loomis has FINALLY did something right for a change by signing Drew Brees. That means that we could trade down in the draft and pick up either D'Brickashaw Ferguson or AJ Hawk.

Kudos to Mickey Loomis...........for now.

RE: Kudos To Mickey Loomis
 

I am just happy, they were able to get the best players they could, and I hope this continues for the draft.

RE: Kudos To Mickey Loomis
 

I haven't been big on Loomis since he became the G.M but so far this off season he's made some good choices, could it be due to Benson letting go some of his money to sign good players?
Was Benson holding on to Loomis to tight?

Or was it Coach Payton yelling that these are the players he needs to win. Regime change my friend.

I am in the camp that believes it is Payton at the helm. Loomis has no football talent evaluation/coaching background. He was a beancounter cap guy before GM, a sports accountant. These first moves of the new regime have been grade A IMO. It is very contrasted to many previous moves. Haslett was always enamored with the athletically gifted whether they were true "players" or not. The team was truly a reflection of him. I have derided Loomis in the past because of many of the moves or more often, the lack of needed moves. I wiped the slate clean for the new regime. I won't be down on him if better moves and draft continue. It will become Payton's team just like it was Haslett's. I'd rather more of a real football guy in that position but if he takes direction from the head coach, that is fine, as long as we have a good head coach. So far so good.

I agree that a fair amount of what's going on is related to Payton. My impression is that Loomis probably tries hard to give the coach players he wants and then works out the details with what we have. The lack of big free agent moves under Haslett may have more to do with the typical Haslett-speak of "the guys we have are fine."

However, could it be that Loomis is learning to be a football guy? Maybe he's been doing it long enough that he's learning something about it?

It's not microsurgery, it's just football. You've got to hope that he would pick up a few things over the years.

I don't know if its just me or what but....even though he did great with Brees.....I still don't think we are doing enough right now. I kinda feel like we have fallen asleep since we got Simmons. I know this team has quite a few areas to address. You'd figure that we would be signing more FA's than what we have gotten. Or am I being impatient?

Could it be that Benson was speaking the truth whe he said that this is Loomis's team late last year, and that Benson is letting him Finnally run the show? Food for thought anyone.

Well I don't think we will turn it around in one season. Other teams can do it but we're talking about the Saints. It may take another 40 years.

Or maybe we're saving that money for all those 1st & 2nd rounders we'll have after we trade down with the Jets! Time will tell. :)

----------was the website out to lunch for a while or was it just me?

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i would like to see more moves myself. i think getting a veteran center would be wise whether getting mangold or not. i also think vanderjagt would be money well spent. edinger or josh brown would be upgrades imo also. carney really looks like he is at a distinct falling off point in his career.

that said, i have to be patient and see what they can do this year. i liked the quote from payton where he named the players the giants picked up after the draft that were components to their superbowl year. i would rather more quality than quantity in the acquisitions. even with gibbs there now, snyder/washington seems to recklessly throw money at players. perpetual salary cap problems can severely limit the competitiveness of teams. remember just a few years ago when the the titans were elite contenders? nothing has changed with the coaching. i count jeff fisher as one of the best in the league. what bit them was the salary cap. they have been purging for a few years now and are just starting to see the light of day to get back competitive capwise. you may ask how in the world can the pats keep letting people go? cuz they refuse to go to salary cap hell is why.

bottomline, let's see the results this year before getting too antsy. then we can ***** n moan this time next year if we don't like it. i am anticipating we will tho. i'm not even so concerned about the win/loss record as i am the team play. fisher's teams and cowher's (even before the SB) teams, whether they were very talented or less so they always come out prepared and ready to play hard. that is what drove me nuts about the haz era- lots of talent, always underachieving, erratic, highly penalized, beating the superbowl champs twice one year and also lose to the very worst teams in the league. i am ready to see some solid football play with players that have attitudes and commitment like brees exhibits. the wins and losses will fall into place if you have that.

I understand everyone's points. I just feel that with the acquisition of Brees we would be looking for some top notch blockers or something....ANYTHING!! I dunno...I guess I am being a little eager. I just want my Saints to win and in times like these....doldrums tend to make me nervous. :ohno:

Nice post LKelley. I agree with the salary cap statement. Although I wish we had gotten some of the bigger name players like Witherspoon, I also think that if anything positive can be said out of not overpaying for players like WW (like the Rams did), it's that we never seem to be in cap trouble. It's one thing to get big name players by just throwing too much money at them, but I think it's another thing to build a solid franchise by making smart, intelligent, well-thought out signings that will fit your club. That's why I think the Saints have done a good job this offseason. They have signed several players who aren't exactly the biggest names, but have proven that they can play and at the same time aren't asking for more money than they're worth. Michael Bennett for example is a Pro Bowler who signed for 1.5 mil a year. We signed Anthony Simmons, a former first-round pick, and a guy who when healthy, has Pro Bowl talent, for 1.5 mil a year. We got Fujita for cheap. We re-signed Whitehead for cheap. While these guys aren't the biggest names, a team doesn't have to be filled with big names, as long as they're dependable and hard-working and driven.

Letting Bentley go for NOTHING still eats at me, other than that, it's been a pretty good off-season. Nice signings. If we TRADE for Faine though, I am gonna be doing some cussin'. :wink:

Agreed. I believe he was willing to work out a long term deal.

Me too. I would like to get Mangold in the draft. I know he's a rookie, but he's very smart & NFL ready.