lawless313

In my opinion, Charles Grant is greedy and self-centered to be complaining about making 9 million over the next year.

First off, the guy hasn't made the pro bowl in his 5 year stint with the Saints nor has he ever led the league in sacks. He's not one of the top 5 defensive ends in the NFL. In fact, he's probably not even in the top 10. Hell, for that matter, he's not even the top defensive end on the Saints.

Jason Taylor, Julius Peppers, Aaron Schoebel, Richard Seymour, Will Smith, Dwight Freeney, Terrell Suggs, Derrick Burgess, Jevon Kearse, Simeon Rice, and Osi Umenyiora are all players who've posted better numbers than Grant over the last few years and only two of those players will be making more money than him in 2007. That's insane.

As for the whole, "what if Grant gets hurt" question, well, geez...what if he gets hit by a bus? What if he gets suspended by the league for violating the substance abuse policy? Or, how about a more realistic scenario, what if Grant's production drops down again? Is he going to give any of that 9 million back? Of course not! It never ceases to amaze me how a player will complain about not making what he feels he's worth, but says nothing about returning some of the team's investment in him when his production starts slipping.

To me, it sounds like Grant is doing nothing more than trying to cash in on his first good year since 2004. Can't say I blame him, except that he wants a lucrative mulit-year deal for what worked out to be only a fairly decent season for him. So, you'd think he could at least be understanding of the Saints protecting their investment in their former first round draft pick, and not wanting him to walk out of New Orleans without some form of compensation. Instead, he openly whines about a salary that he hasn't deserved. You'd think he could dry those eyes on some of those rather large paychecks he'll be cashing.

Simply put, Grant's a good player who hasn't yet reached the status of being great. I hope he does and, when and if that time comes, I hope the Saints pay him every penny he deserves for as many years as he'd like. Until then, he ought to just shut up because he just hit the lottery.