RockyMountainSaint

Alex Brown gives Saints some StarCaps protection | ProFootballTalk.com

Alex Brown gives Saints some StarCaps protection
Posted by Mike Florio on April 8, 2010 12:01 PM ET
The easy explanation for the Saints' interest in free-agent defensive end Alex Brown is that they released Charles Grant earlier this year. But Brown also provides the Saints with a valuable insurance policy, in the event that Will Smith isn't available for the first four games of the 2010 season.

If the lawsuit filed by Vikings defensive tackles Pat and Kevin Williams eventually fails (a decision is expected by the middle of May), the NFL most likely will impose a four-game suspension on the Williamses and on Smith. Last season, the league secured a legal green light to suspend Smith and Grant after testing positive in 2008 for Bumetanide, a prescription diuretic that secretly had been added to the over-the-counter weight-loss supplement known as StarCaps.

The NFL opted not to suspend Smith and Grant, given that the league had been prevented from suspending Pat and Kevin Williams for the same violation. And so for the same reason that the folks at 280 Park Avenue opted not to suspend Smith and Grant at a time when the Williamses were legally protected, the league is highly unlikely to suspend the Williamses without also suspending Smith and Grant, who remains a free agent.

Bottom line? Three key players could be absent if the Vikings and the Saints get together on the evening of September 9 to launch the 2010 season. Alex Brown, however, will be available.


I hadn't considered this. Makes sense.

I'm no one.
Who are you?

strato

Damn Mike Florio...he wants to keep this in the news...he must be a Vikes fan..

D_it_up

I hate Mike Florio, but yeah, it does make a lot of sense. Brown could shift over to Smith's position, McCray could start on the other side, and Charleston and Hargrove can rotate in and out. Hopefully, we won't have to worry about it, though.

st thomas

i don't want to hear that starcap crap ever again

RockyMountainSaint

Well, sorry but it's not going away.
Smith may well miss four games.

Rugby Saint II

Smith is still looking at a 4 game suspension. Any DE on the Saints may get some extra playing time if Smith has to take the time off. Let's hope that the Williams brothers manage to put up a good fight and the whole scenario is dropped.

ScottF

Well, in trying to tie together 3-4 threads, I say Starcaps buys the naming rights to the Superdome, the NFL schedules the Vikes for the opener, Smith and the Williamses are suspended,
and Tebow starts at OLB,
and Sharper feels love when introduced as a starter (with a $4 mill contract),
and the game goes to OT and we score a safety to win it, which further convolutes the new playoff rule