Ocean? I take great offense to football being compared to an ocean.

Have any of you ever been left at sea? You get sunburned, thirsty, tired and eventually eaten by sharks. How does this compare to football?

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Saints needed to add speed and more talent at LB. They added Vilma and Morgan, both seriously injured.

Morgan has retired and on WWL radio yesterday, Vilma was discussing not be able to participate fully as he is still rehabbing.

Last year they brought in LB Simmons who was coming off a serious injury and was never really productive. He was cut too.

This year the Saints will likely have to start without McAllister and therefore begin a tough season at a competitive disadvantage.

We are not discussing a player, we are looking at a FO philosophy, that goes thinks 'bargain hunting' is a legit way to improve the team.

And what did these moves cost us? Practically nothing. I don't see anything wrong whatsoever on the moves we've made. I can't see why anyone would complain about a low risk low investment high reward signing/trade.

Once again, so were you opposed to us acquiring Vilma?

Did Brees not work out?

What did Morgan cost us in the end?

You act like we haven't made any inquiries all offseason about "healthy" players. They just haven't been in our price range. Why overpay if you don't think that player will get you over that hump? Obviously we felt comfortable enough in Vilma to obtain him... it'll be okay. Even if he didn't start the season 100%, he's still better than what we've got at 80.

One may forget that the '06 team didn't exactly look good on paper... especially at LB.

Panthers, Jags and Texans are relatively new teams which have done well in a short time.

Much of their success has to do with acquiring talent that can get on the field and contribute right away. In general. they have done a better job of getting talent and production through the draft and free agency.

Ocean? I take great offense to football being compared to an ocean.

Have any of you ever been left at sea? You get sunburned, thirsty, tired and eventually eaten by sharks. How does this compare to football?

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Risk, cost, now time... everytime there's a response then you change it and make it about something else. If you have a problem with how we acquire talent, then you obviously have a problem with Brees and Vilma being here.

What do the Jags, Panthers, Texans, and Saints all have in common? No Super Bowl ring. They can be 10 times more talented, have earlier success winning meaningless football games, and it still leads to no ring. We're all in the same boat. I couldn't give a diddly squat about what happened 10 or 20 years ago... we live in the now. This is a different era and regime of Saints football... have a little faith. It got us pretty far a couple of years ago... and we should rebound nicely this season.

Panthers and Jags sure. But Texans?

Welcome 504. You've played a good devils advocate and it makes it interesting. Unless you're serious about the sky is falling stuff?



The Saints went to the NFC Championship game in 2006. It's 2008 and most of the talented players that were on the team then are on the team now.
You're concerned about the RB, TE, and LB positions and I agree that RB and LB are indeed weaknesses. However, I assert that those two positions are stronger in 2008 than they were in 2006. Stronger because of two guys: Pierre Thomas and Jonathon Vilma.

I understand that you are concerned with the health of two players that have been great in their own right in McAllister and Vilma. I have no argument for that. I can't say that they will be 100% by game one so all I can do assume that behind the scenes, the Saints coaching staff knows what they are doing.

The big weakness for the Saints to address after the 2007 season was defense. McCray, Ellis, Vilma, Porter are all defensive players that are sure to be on the field a lot this year so to be disappointed the FO after these moves is befuddling to me. Were you expecting the team to be like the Raiders or the Redskins and break the bank on every free agent they could get their hands on? That doesn't work unless the team is rebuilding and have no where to go but up.

On offense, if Deuce isn't healthy enough to begin the season then I'm pretty confident in Pierre Thomas. His game in Chicago was phenomenal and the spot duty before that game showed much also. He was in the voting for Rookie of the Week after that 24 yard TD run.

I think that many people, even non-Saints fans, would agree that the Saints are favored to be on top of the NFC South come seasons end.

Every team has weaknesses. The Saints have done pretty well this off-season in my book.

Brees wasn't a gamble. I heard QB's saying his injury was no big deal, I heard doctors say it was no big deal, the only people who called Brees' shoulder injury "career threatening" was the media.

As for Vilma, medical science is getting better and better. I'm sure the Saints medical staff was quite familiar with Vilma's knee before he was signed. It is much less a gamble and more a calculated risk. They aren't exactly flipping a coin for it.

You just want big name players at your highlight positions. I understand that, but move on, cause the arguments that you use to defend your wants are getting dull.