RockyMountainSaint

Welcome sheldogg.
Ouch!
Keep posting man.
Things will get better as your skin thickens.
Tough crowd around here sometimes.

sheldogg

Thanks for the sentiment.

In case you haven't already answered Rocky - where in the reagion are you from? I'm looking for Saints fans in the SLC area.

lumm0x

Your question of why has already been answered. Donte this year means nothing next year. He would have been gone 99.9% with nothing to show for him but perhaps an extra win maybe, and the delayed development of those that would then be taking his place. And what would they have learned...how to coast in practice, be a distraction to your team, and how to put personal ego ahead of the team.

Instead we (a team in transition and development....not a team on the verge of contending for deep playoff status) have an extra year to develop our WR depth in Colston and Devery, have additional depth at LBer, where we were weak and shallow, and an extra pick (be it 3rd or 4th round) next year.

My opinion is we won this move. I'm sorry if you don't see it. If you think Donte suddenly makes us a powerhouse juggernaut in comparison to who we are without him I think it's delusional.

Iron-Head

agreed, Dante would have put up numbers with us but he was lookin for a big payday that he wouldn't have found. it was good to have got what we did now intead of gettin nothin at the end of the season.

saintfan

Donte's toughness was in question. His route running was in question. His willingness to play for our team was in question. Joe Horn has stated publically that he "failed" Donte'. WTF?

I'm no Donte' hater, but Devry most certainly does = Donte. Let's see if he's dropping as many passes after 5 years, continues to run crappy routes after 5 years, takes every other game (or every other half so far this year) off, etc, etc.

Yessir, Devry = Donte + a (potential, for Whodi) 3rd rounder + LB Depth (thanks guys I was leaving that out) and a LOT less cash our of our pocket to boot. I happen to think that 3rd round pick is "in the bag" because Philly needs him more than they don't. You'll see...

LKelley67

the trade that just won't die


If you want to stir the pot, I'll say releasing Dwight Smith for nothing was a whole lot worse of a deal than the Donte trade. I think we should have gotten a 6th or 7th.

yasoon

Sheldogg, I never knew Donte was considered the crispest route runner himself. And I don't know that you can really say Devery drops a higher % of balls when he hasn't had the reps. As I said earlier, Sunday's game was a perfect Devery=Donte moment. A big drop on third and a big TD catch. Not fighting you on it, I just don't see this as a huge issue.

I hate to constantly agree with LK, but he is right again about the smith deal.

I think this about sums it up (from Lumm0x).

saintswhodi

I again am not as upset over losing donte as sheldogg, but some things that have been said are "opinion" being passed off as fact.

a) Devery in no way equals Donte. Preposterous. Devery barely played WR at LSU and was VERY raw coming into the pros. He is barely seeing the field even now. And being an LSU homer, I want to see great things from Devery. But Donte is better than him. Easily.

b) This Donte drop stuff is pure nonsense and fabricated. YES he dropped a lot of balls last year, but who on this team DID NOT perform beloew expectations last year. Donte takes all the blame? Unreal. The #s he was able to put up on THIS TEAM last year were pretty good. Before last year, not one year did Donte lead this team in drops. So that lame excuse needs to go.

c) As sheldogg said, Donte had to put up with AB at QB. AB got progressivly more single focused on Horn as the years went on. Donte didn't set the Saints rookie record for TD catches, while MISSING half the games cause he sucks. Dude is talented. He was just as inconsistent as his QB though, cause of his QB. I don't know how many times Donte was wide open downfield only to see Brooks make a poor throw to a double covered Horn or some such. Not really all Donte's fault.

d) Where is anyone getting this "Donte wasn't gonna be here next year" stuff? Did he say that? IS there one article with Donte saying that? We are FLUSH with cap room, which will only grow next year. Did Donte say he wanted a huge pay-day, or are people ASSUMING that's what Donte was gonna want? Let's stick to facts.

e) I am AT LEAST glad we got something for him, and didn't let him walk for nothing, ala Bentley, Howard, Dwight Smith..... I have no problem at all with that. I'll still support Donte and hope he goes to the pro bowl, until the game he plays us. I wouldn't even mind if he did well then as long as we won. But there's no reason to hate on the dude. Like I said, I am not in full agreement with sheldogg, but some of this "opinion" need not be passed off as facts.

And one thing I do agree with sheldoog on is, if Donte is such a poor route runner, poor locker room player, and has such poor character, and drops so many balls, WHY would the Eagles extend him? Didn't they have enough of the WR character thing with TO? So basically we would have a 4th rounder right? If you are gonna knock donte, might as well stick to calling that pick we got a 4th, cause no way the Eagles allow another receiver to mess up their team.

yasoon

Hey, I like Donte, but he does drop alot of balls. He dropped 2 in the first Philly game.
I believe he led the league in drops last year with 11.

Interesting point


I don't think Devery is as good as Donte. Yes, Devery is raw and Donte started his pro career with a bang. But he really came into his own last year.

Devery pretty much never saw the field his first season because of his rawness, and so, this his third season is more like Donte's second.

They are the same size, almost exactly. They are both SEC guys. They are both burners with electric speed and moves. They both drop easy catches from time to time. Donte is a bit more injury prone (which he shook last year) but came out of college as a more seasoned receiver. They have both received some level of criticism from coaches for their focus and/or work habits. Devery for his dropsies in practice/route running and Donte for some tardiness issues.

Aside from that, they have nothing in common.

saintswhodi

No he didn't lead the league. Lamont Jordan did. but Muhsin Muhammed, Eddie Kennison Chad Johnson, Antonio Gates, all were right there with Donte. There's also this part you forgot to quote:

So I guess one year out of 5 could prove that point. I don't think so though.

Also, here's your drop leaders with Donte:

http://snap.stats.com/stats/nflinfo/...=232&Submit=Go

Let's look at the names: Braylon Edwards, Reggie bush, Reggie Wayne, Larry Fitz, Troy williamson, Jason Witten. Donte and Reggie are the only ones first time in anew system. Did Donte even play in the pre-season? So again, we can dump this whole "drops" thing.

Superficial.

superficial.

Iahven't seen Devery's moves, have you? I have seen Donte take a 5 yard slant to the house more than once early in his career. He started the river city relay by breaking 3 tackles. Devery, um no. Scratch that.
So does every receiver in the league outside of Marvin Harrison and Torry Holt.

Actually, Donte shook that 2 years ago. He has played in all 16 the last two years. And yes he did come out of college more season. Another non-similarity.

So has Mike Williams in Detroit, Reggie Williams in Jacksonville, Troy Williamson in Minnesota, Michael Jenkins in Atlanta, etc. etc. etc. I guess they are all the same.

Hmm, not similar at all. Got it. Oh, outside the size and SEC thing. I guess they are both the same player as Troy Williamson. I wonder how many SEC guys around the same size with speed we can call Donte.