alsaints113

from http://www.nola.com/sports/t-p/index...2114287680.xml

Jake Delhomme plays in the Super Bowl today. Aaron Brooks' Saints have failed to make the playoffs three years running. Many frustrated fans want to know whether the Saints let the wrong guy get away.


"Jake Delhomme's magical run to the Super Bowl has stirred the ire of Saints fans far and wide. But to equate his success with the Saints' failures this season is at best misguided and at worst foolish.

It's a favorite pastime for frustrated Saints fans to point out their former players who have gone on to good careers elsewhere. But their memories are selective. They seldom recall the ones that left and fizzled. (See: defensive end Joe Johnson, linebacker Keith Mitchell, cornerback Alex Molden, etc.)

Fact is, that is the reality of the NFL today.

The NFL salary cap is both beauty and beast. It creates the parity that makes each season fresh and different. It also creates the annual roster churn that prevents stability and continuity.

Every team in the league suffers that fate.

Think fans in San Diego aren't wondering why Rodney Harrison is starring for the Patriots' defense this season? Or that Redskins fans aren't wondering how Stephen Davis got away to Carolina?

The difference is those two players were released. Delhomme left New Orleans as an unrestricted free agent.

The decision really was out of the Saints' hands. Certainly, the Saints could have tried to match the offer Carolina gave Delhomme, but that would have been financially irresponsible. And it probably wouldn't have been enough. Because they couldn't offer him the one thing he valued most: a starting job.

That job belongs to Aaron Brooks, who just happened to enjoy the best season by a Saints quarterback in franchise history last season. I won't bore you with his numbers, but let's just say they were good. Very good. "