Saints lose Marvin Mitchell to Miami; Darren Sharper to visit Patriots
 

The New Orleans Saints have a little bit more going on other than the first preseason game and injury notes to pay attention to. Free agency is still going strong and the the Saints lost another one over the weekend as linebacker Marvin Mitchell has signed with the Miami Dolphins. For those also wondering about the status of safety Darren Sharper, he will be visiting the New England Patriots this week.

Mitchell served mostly as a back-up in the linebacking corps and it is increidbly overcrowded this season already. He was a big-time special teams player for the Saints, but again the roster is huge right now and many guys are stepping up.

News of the signing with the Dolphins came via Scout.com.

For those that have been wondering about Sharper's status, he has not re-signed with New Orleans no matter what some reports may read. The Saints did not come to a deal with the longtime veteran which allowed him to stay a free agent. With the depth the Saints have in the secondary, this came as no surprise.

Sharper will visit with the Patriots sometime during the week in hope of securing a job for at least one more year in his long and great career. He is coming off microfracture knee surgery in 2010 which limited his playing time to only half the games in last season.

Linkback The Examiner

DAMMIT don't do it Sharper

We still need you. You're still a playmaker. Want another ring?

In all reality, signing with the Pats gives him as much chance for a ring as signing with the Saints does.

That makes it a mute point ;)

Hey, I put a wink face in there and it didd not show up. Darn I phone.

Oh, there it is. Again, darn I phone

See you later Marvin

Damn I have to change my avatar now and I just learned how to do it.

Hold on now, he hasn't signed just yet...

Salt in the wounds... my tears will only make me stronger!


http://yoursmiles.org/tsmile/tears/t2340.gif

I am not sure the pats would start sharper....but I could be wrong. The pats are doing some crazy stuff this off season.

Do we? We are pretty deep there, and I think given the history between Sharper and the FO, if we really NEEDED him, we would have signed him by now. Have we even made him an offer?

Marvin who? :). Not a major loss what-so-ever.

Not a major loss, even if we lose Sharper too...

I am not sure we have great depth at Safety, depth yes...are they good, jury is still out.

We haven't signed sharper yet because he wants to see if he can start for a team, not be a back-up. The saints are trying to get him back.

I don't understand letting Marvin Mitchell go. He and Vilma were great together on the inside when they played 3-4 and he showed signs that the light had come on. I really think he will do well in Miami.

I mean, it's not a big deal, Herring, Dunbar, etc. are fine but I don't like letting decent players go for nothing.

Mitchell we dont need - Sharper I would like to have on the team.

Marvin ?

i really like Marvin he was a hard worker and i would have liked to see him stay here

I agree that it is Malcolm Jenkins time, but I would be okay with a 3:1 split time between Jenkins: Sharp. Would keep him healthy and give Sharper some snaps so we aren't just sitting on a pro-bowl FS on second string.

That's good in theory, but I think that the underlying problem lies in that Sharper doesn't play ST.

You know what, I'm just going to say it. Screw Special Teams. We won the Super Bowl without it, we went 11-5 last year without it, and it wasn't ST that lost against the Seahawks. If you asked me if I wanted Sharp part-time on Defense or Amaya full-time on ST, I would laugh at you.

You have a point, but SP made a point of it himself that the ST play needed to be better this season and that everyone needed to contribute towards it.

It depends on which Darren Sharper you're referring to.

If its the Sharper we saw at the end of last season (granted he wasn't 100% recovered) then I'll take Amaya all day long.

If you can guarantee that its the 2009 version of Sharper, then of course you'd take Sharper.

None of us knows which Darren Sharper we'd get in 2011.

Fair enough... that does make it a bit less clean cut, but I would still give Sharp the edge because of his ability to contribute as a mentor, and because I selfishly want every great player that has played for the Saints to retire as a Saint.