CheramieIII

If you had control of the Saints this off-season.

Here's my selections:

Wide Receivers

Cut Joe Horn
Sign Patrick Crayton, RFA, Dallas
Sign, Kevin Curtis, UFA, St. Louis

Tight Ends

Cut Ernie Conwell
Sign, Eric Johnson, UFA, San Francisco

Cornerback

Cut Fred Thomas
Draft 1st round Marcus McCauley, CB Fresno State

Linebackers

Cut Danny Clark
Draft 2nd round Buster Davis, ILB, Florida State

Defensive Tackles

Cut Rodney Leslie
Re-sign Hollis Thomas
Sign, Kris Jenkins, after he's cut, Carolina Panthers
Sign Vonnie Holliday, UFA, Miami Dolphins

Kickers

Cut Carney
Pick up the best strong legged kicker available. We don't need 2 kickers on the roster.

The rest of the draft I would spend on Offensive Line and Cornebacks, maybe a Quarterback in the 6th or 7th round.

Golf and sex are about the only things you can enjoy without being good at them.
Jimmy Demaret

lumm0x

I'm going in a different direction...

QB- we need a true prospect behind Brees-Martin. Someone who plays similar to Brees and can be positively influenced by Brees' style of play.

RB- get Branch on the roster. We don't need to add anyone though.

FB- we're fine here.

WR- find a way to re-negotiate Horn. He should retire a Saint and I think he's a positive influence for the team. He needs to assume a grandfather role on Colston, Henderson and Copper and accept the reality he's not a #1 or #2 anymore. I agree with getting one of Crayton or Curtis if possible though. Stay away from WR in the draft.

TE- I don't like any draftees or FA's this year. Conwell should go and re-sign Miller and keep Owens and Campbell and make due this year.

OL- Stinchy might be gone. I like adding Steinbach as I doubt Cincy will tag him. If we get him, Holland can walk. Let Streif play RT and draft depth at OT.

DL- Re-sign Grant no matter what and get Hollis back for one more year. Leisle I'm on the fence about. I'd like to see Ian Scott in the rotation. Other than that, keep the line the way it is. They'll develop more chemistry and be fine.

LB- With Shanle re-signing we now need a MLB. Simoneau can walk. He's a back up at best. Kawika Mitchell would fit the bill and draft a 2nd or 3rd round LBer for depth. Keep Danny Clark. He's solid.

CB- Cut Fred Thomas twice just to be sure. Spend our first rounder on CB and get the best available we can in FA. Clements is too much and Samuel may get the tag. Perhaps Smoot or some other tier 2 FA at this position. I don't like Craft either but keep him one more year as depth.

S- With Harper back I think he and Bullocks are fine. We need depth here so a 3rd or 4th rounder is needed. We need a true SS in depth here.

K- I'm fine with Carney if Berger returns to take over P and KO duties. I liked the job Weatherford did though and I'd prefer to see us cut both Berger and Carney, let Weatherford be the future at P and I agree with getting the best available veteran K as a stop gap.

TheDeuce

Haha damn Cher, that's cold blooded.

Here's what I would do:

QB - I think we are set here. It does worry me that we only have two QBs on the roster, and with Brees dislocation yesterday, I'd like to see another guy that we could bring in if need be. What I'm thinking is a guy like AMac. I really feel bad that he got ran over by the Titans mascot... seriously. I think that Payton could have really helped him develop his skills (because we all know his physical skills were off the charts). I mean hell, Payton turned Quincy Carter into a 3000 yard passer. I wouldn't mind us investing a late round pick in a "project QB."

RB - we are set. I was very unimpressed with Stecker last season. He always seemed to be dropping passes out of the backfield. I agree with lumm0x here, we should replace Stecker with Branch.

FB - obviously we are set here for as long as we want to keep Karney.

WR - I really hope that we can get Joe to re-structure his contract. I love the guy, and yes, I do think he's a great influence on the team, but the cold hard fact is that over the last two or three years he hasn't been worth the money he's getting. It would be a real classy move for him to come forward and say "I don't deserve this money, and I can help the team by restructuring." Will it happen? I honestly have no clue right now. But if it doesn't, as much as it would hurt, I agree with Cher that we will need to let him go. I am looking for Payton to invest a first day pick or some serious FA consideration in a good WR. I don't like Ohio State, but everytime I watch their games, I'm impressed with Anthony Gonzalez. Good route runner, good hands, high character (I believe he was going to go to Stanford for his MBA before he decided on the NFL).

TE - absolutely need to cut Ernie Conwell. I can't stand this guy. He needs to be cut, NOW. I think Billy Miller can be the guy this next season, and adding another TE for depth would be nice.

OL - This was one of the best units in the NFL this last season. I hope that we don't turn it over too much. Stinch had a great season, and I'd like to see him stay. Remember he's still young and this was his first season to play, so I think he'll only get better. Holland might be gone, but overall, all I think we really need to do is add depth.

DL - SIGN CHARLES GRANT!!!! This must be done, IMO. Re-sign Hollis Thomas too. I have never been impressed with Leisle, so I wouldn't mind seeing him gone. I am looking for the Saints to add another run stuffer this offseason.

LB - this unit is set except for a MLB. Patrick Willis please! I hope we get this guy, he's always all over the field. I have a feeling that Danny Clark isn't going to be back because he couldn't beat out Simoneau.

CB - I think we should keep Fred Thomas, but relegate him to a nickel or dime corner. He's got good technique, and he's pretty good in run support, but he just doesn't have the speed or quickness anymore to be put on an island like that. I am really pulling for us to go get Roderick Hood, but if Clements ends up not getting "Champ Bailey money" I think he's somebody we would have to seriously consider getting.

S - Bullocks regressed a little bit. Terrible hands, and always seemed to be taking bad angles to the ball. I still believe he can be good, but this will be a big year for him. I also think Harper is going to be a stud.

K - keep Carney. The guy made 23 out of 25 last season. That's dang good. Cundiff needs to be cut immediately, he provided nothing to this team. He was signed because he had a "big leg," but he couldn't even get the ball into the end zone on kickoffs.

hagan714

Cut cut cut cut cut

QB I would not mind a fourth rounder going that direction. But Sean has done so good with FA so far I am not going there.
RB is pretty much set. Stecker is pretty much on the fence this year. Karney needs a back up on the PS or one that can special teams.
WR Hornets nest. All the WR are too young to be left on thier own. Horn is the mentor on the team. So a solid veteran is needed. As for the unit I know the stats are great but I am not really all that happy with the play. Alot of drops. Drew should have the yardage record. Signing a FA (ie Curtis) or Drafting a multi functional WR (ie. Higgins) that can take over the return duties from Lewis is very likely to happen. Then you have to think of Henderson and what happens to him. This is what Henderson needs to add to his game or IMO I think he is traded. Besides he still needs to learn to catch.
TE We have a group that can get the job done and thats all I can say about them. Any upgrade here would be more than welcomed.
OL looks good but we have a C with an injury history and a G that is 30. The best pick is a G that can play C and has at least 4 years playing time as a starter. I like A few as you guys know from other posts. RT is an area of concern but not as much as the G position. A solid backup is already in place at RT so another young gun would be nice that can do the T to G shuffle.
http://blackandgold.net/site/index.p...394d023e78e28e

JOESAM2002

I have to agree with Lumm and Deuce. The only way I cut Joe Horn is if he absolutly refuses to reconstruct his contract.
I do feel a little shakey about our depth at QB. We need someone that we can bring around slowly. We have the teachers.

We need a new corner badly. Either through free agency or the draft, personally I hope it's free agency. At least we know what they can do against top flight players.

As far as Carney, he's better than most kickers in the league already, I can't see gambling on a maybe.

Sometimes it's better to keep your mouth shut and be thought an idiot, than to open it and remove all doubt!!!!!

"Every time you think, you weaken the nation!" Moe Howard...The Three Stooges.

wheelman

They need to go after a MLB and/or CB in the FA period. As for DT, I say wait until the draft. I wouldn't mind if they traded up for Okoye (sp).

What would you guys think of moving Fred Thomas to Free Safety?

JOESAM2002

I had heard rumors last year that Fred had a hip injury. If that was true, then I have no problem keeping him as long as he's not out there on an island covering.

LivnaLieTimay

The first priority is obviously getting a cb. I think we have to spend the money and go after clements. There are so few really good shutdown cb's. Drafting a cb is risky and won't fill our need right away.

I think with our first round pick we either stay where we are and hope Paul Posluszny (seems like the kind of guy our organization is looking for lately- high character, smart, hard working player who also has a lot of talent) is still available or trade up (maybe throw some team our 1st and a mid-late round pick) for Patrick Willis.

Also, I think it is important to try to re-structure horn's contract because we need some experience at that position.

If we still have the money I want us to resign grant. I REALLY like grant but I think clements would be more valuable to our team and I think we need to make a move for clements first. It is a lot easier to find a playmaking de in the draft (use our 2nd round pick on a de if we can't resign grant) or through free agency then it is to find a cb.

CheramieIII

Bump. I thought we would've gotten alot more play out of this topic, so here it is again!

DJLengai

1) Cut Joe Horn
2) Cut Grant and let Ninkovich and Smith play DE
3) Resign Hollis Thomas
4) Cut Stinchomb and Sign Leonard Davis
5) Sign Nate Clements
6) Sign Adalius Thomas if Nate or Asante are unavailable and draft CB in first
7) Keep Fred Thomas as a nickel back or dime back and an emergency corner
8) Cut Bellamy
9) Cut Stecker and activate Branch (should have done that in NFC Championship)