Bobaganoosh

One player will not make a difference, but having someone in the secondary with actual ball skills and the ability to read and diagnose a route would be something that no Saints fan can say that we ever had. Adding him would certainly ease a lot of the pressure of HAVING to draft a Cb in round 1, and since rookie CB's dont generally make an impact, we wouldnt be helping ourselves for this year by relying on a rookie to stabilize our secondary. Adding Samuel and still drafting a CB in round 1 or 2 makes this team better for the long haul...now and later. Then we turn our attention to finding a LB and a DT and our defense will make a quantum leap in effeciency.

It's all in the reflexes.

TheDeuce

Good post bobaganoosh. I have said for a while that we should get a corner in free agency that can play right away. Draft a LB or DT in the first round that can have a positive impact in the first season

Bobaganoosh

I am glad you agree...that would be the best way to get maximum improvement THIS YEAR and also for the future as well. You usually have to wait a year or two for CB's to get comfortable. Especially given the fact that this year all of us are in love with CB's from small schools. Their transition to the NFL may take even longer.

TheDeuce

i.e. Usama young. Not saying he isn't going to be good, but the jump from Toledo or wherever he came from to the NFL is a big jump.

NarwhalHunter

Getting Samuel definitely frees us up to do whatever we want in the draft, which is a very good thing. I'm still a little leery about him -- he gets burned a ton, system guy, blah blah blah -- but the fact remains he's still heads and shoulders above any other corner the Saints have ever had. I guess the thing that's most exciting is the fact that the front office doesn't seem to mind opening up the checkbook these days. Maybe they actually want to see some decent product on the field.

9thWardDesire

If the Saints land Assante Samuel, I say show Jason David where the Armstrong International Airport is.

Oh, don't forget about the 'soon-to-be-former Saintkiller' Alge Crumpler and Johnathan Vilma.

Add Lance Briggs @ LB and a solid DT opposite Hollis Thomas.

Kicker? PLEASE DON'T TAKE THE PARCELLS ROUTE!!!!

Bobaganoosh

The Saints have to keep Jason David around for one more year...for financial purposes. And who knows, if he is defending as a nickle or dime CB, he cant be that terrible. As long as we dont line him up on the outside and ask him to defend someone on a fly route, we should be ok.

Tobias-Reiper

Wanna put money where ya' typin' is?

TheDeuce

Ha ha true boba, I think he could fit as a nickel back. The only thing I'm worried about is whether or not Usama will progress enough to take over the other corner position. Last year he got beaten consistently when he was in. I'm not quite ready to hand it over to him yet.

And to address NarhwalHunter's comments, I wasn't aware that Samuel was criticized for being burnt all the time. I am pretty sure that he's one of the top 3 corners in the league and has totaled a ridiculous amount of interceptions. I don't know, maybe you're right, but I'm pretty sure the guy's a stud.

On a side note, not one of the reports I've seen from ESPN link Samuel to the Saints. Any reason why?

NarwhalHunter

Samuel getting burnt is just from my own personal observations, but it's one of those things that no one in sports talks about, same as Champ Bailey gets burned quite a bit more than his clippings would have you believe. No one talks about it because they make crazy amounts of picks. That's not to say Samuel will be terrible, but I'm not expecting him to descend into the Superdome from a golden chariot and cure every woe in the defensive backfield. Jason David is still back there, after all.

I thought David's contract was mostly front loaded? Shouldn't we be able to dump him off in a canal somewhere?