BrooksMustGo

Now I know that there is a wild amount of man-love on this board for Vilma. However, where he goes in the draft isn't entirely within our control. If he's still there at #18, we might well take him.

What eats at me is the number of quality free agents available that are within our control to make a move on. Haz and company have yet to make a meaningful move to address either the CB or MLB position during his tenure. By deliberately choosing not to even schedule visits with one of the deeper FA CB pools in recent memory, it looks like the coaching staff is content with the status quo. By choosing not to even talk to some good free agents the coaching staff is saying a couple of things:
1. There are no free agents available that are better than what we currently have.
2. There are no free agents available that are better than what we can draft.

The status quo seems fine for these guys. Now Young was a good pick up, even though he's a 1 gap guy. We'd need a ruling from Tweeky here, but Clancy might be a nice gamble to bring in to play 2 gap for us. As a backup from the Steelers, he might make a nice addition and give us a real 2 gap guy.

Taylor and Vincent are both old, but I like our secondary better with either of them than the old guys we currently have in Ambrose and Carter. I'm not even going to get into the absolute refusal to even talk to the younger, quality CB's.

Short would have also made a nice pickup, or Dhani Jones. The only plus to Short signing with Washington is that makes it even more likely that Trotter gets released on June 1. But even with Trotter gettting released, I don't have a lot of confidence in Haz-matic to even schedule a visit with him.

The message of free agency this year is the same as any other year, "what we're doing is good enough". To hear the coaching staff talk, you'd think we were in the NFC championship game every season and were just one bad ruling from the refs from being in the superbowl.

But now for all you bargain hunting guys:
1. We're going to either pay Howard Kearse money or leave him as a huge cap hit under the franchise tag.
2. We're going to give Deuce huge money (I don't necessarily disagree with paying him more though)
3. We're setting ourselves up for Brooks cap number to skyrocket over the next 2 seasons.

We are not creating the Patriots here. We are going to be paying guys arguably too much. It looks pretty realistic to have 3 guys taking up 20% of next year's cap space. If we are going to pay that kind of money, why are we consistently refusing to address the gaping holes in the defense we have at LB and CB? Vilma may be good, he may be the next Lawrence freaking Taylor, but isn't is crazy to be pinning all our hopes on him falling to #18. Is it possible that out of the whole league we are the only team that possibly realizes he is the single best LB in the draft class? It is simply insane to continue to leave our heads in the sand and not address the CB and LB positions and think things are going to get better. Our poor play at LB and CB is not because of officiating or mental lapses, it's because we don't have guys who are capable at playing on a high level. As a result, we have painted ourselves into a corner during free agency and put ALL of our eggs in the draft basket.

This is stupid.

Danno

You and I have no idea who they have and have not talked to.
When you factor in cost, these statements may actually be correct.
I gave you a ruling last week. Sullivan is moving to the 2-gap. Its what he was originally drafted for.
Yea, bring in some more old guys at inflated prices. Not a great idea, but yea, I do like both these guys a bit more than Ambrose and Carter. We have talked to younger CB\'s and again, we don\'t know who they\'ve talked to.
We spent quite a bit on FA’s in the last two years. We had a MAJOR overhaul of our defense last year. \"what we\'re doing is good enough\" doesn\'t apply to 2002 and 2003 at all.
Ther’es also Rod Davis, Darryl Smith, Donaterrious Thomas, Courtney Watson and Rich Siegler. I don’t think anyone is pinning all our hopes on Vilma at MLB.
That draft basket is filled with highly talented CB and LB’s this year. 1 and 2A will be a LB/CB combo. And we still have veteran cuts to weed through and a whole month until the draft.
Only if the Season started tomorrow.

steub12

Wah, Wah, Wah!! Cry me a river!

Truth is, no one knows what teams they are talking to or what free agents they are talking to. They may be talking to New England or Oakland about aquiring a CB. So, why don\'t we just hold-off on the panicking just yet!

:casstet:

saintfan

May I get an AMEN from the congregation -- and a thank you to tweek...err, ummm...Danno? Once again, cooler heads prevail. I think some of you should just go ahead and take the leap on over to the Redskins Bandwagon. Better get on now too, cause there\'s a wagon that won\'t make it across the river!

Spending now will cost Snyder later

What does Snyder know that the other NFL owners don\'t? Nothing. It\'s what he doesn\'t know -- or fails to acknowledge -- that eventually will be exposed.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slu...=tsn&type=lgns

C'mon Man...

deadflatbird

Just because the Saints didn\'t go spend 80 million dollars in the first few days they are the Do Nothing Francise... please. They are working adding depth and resignings. Hell only two spots to fill and prepare for the draft, ooops 3... sign Sam Gash.

WhoDat

All this from the same guys who told us not to get upset about the Orlando Ruff signing last year. All of this from the guys who told us Ambrose had a few good years left and that the defense would be top ten or fifteen.

Looks like the same guys are saying the same things they said last year. Certain other people (yes that includes me) are unhappy with the Saints showing in the offseason... but the same people that have been telling us to trust the coaches for two seasons are telling us to do it again. Sorry, still not buying. By the way, how did all that trusting the coaches pan out last season?


My prediction for this season is looking to be landing on 10-6 and a first round playoff loss. Why? B/c it is the WORST possible thing that could happen to the franchise. The Saints would be just good enough to make the playoffs and buy Haslett another 3 seasons, but realistically they won\'t really be contenders. And over the next three years you\'ll hear the same guys telling you not to get upset when the 3rd most money available under the cap doesn\'t buy you the ONE MLB and ONE CB you need to be a true contender. OK guys, we\'ll all just sit by and feel blessed that Benson hasn\'t taken the team out of the state yet... right?

[Edited on 16/3/2004 by WhoDat]

\"Excuses, excuses, excuses. That’s all anyone ever makes for the New Orleans Saints’ organization.\" - Eric Narcisse


\"Being a Saints fan is almost like being addicted to crack,\" he said.[i]\"You know you should stop, but you just can\'t.\"

saintz08

Spurrier was an even bigger idiot then previously expected ?? Spurrier could have had the All Pro team in a Redskins uniform and lost the season in Washington .

Gibbs is a little better coach , Gibbs could have the same impact in Washington that Parcels did in Dallas . Then the news reports will turn to Benson and say what did you learn from Dallas and Washington ???

I should have gotten a qualified coaching staff ........

WhoDat

Oh come now 08, he\'s got one. Jim Haslett eats footballs. If that doesn\'t translate into football knowledge, I don\'t know what does.

Analyst: Saints have holes to fill at MLB and CB.
Reporter: Saints not likely to sign an MLB or CB, but look for a few interior lineman and a 35 year old FB... oh, and a defensive lineman out of the SEC.

deadflatbird

Those guys, them guys, some guys... NEWS FLASH: Haslett is the coach and none of us can do anything about it except deal with it unless you wish to trade your alliances to say the Redskins or Falcons, hell be my guess. So all we can do is just bicker about whats going on and wait and see the next moves the front office makes. I would have make some swiping changes in the Coaching staff but hey not so... so all I or any of us have to do is either move alliance or some how get behind this team and look for the positives.

10-6 I think is realistic and hopefully we will have a decent divisional record to carry us into the playoffs as a wildcard.

[Edited on 16/3/2004 by deadflatbird]

BrooksMustGo

Best case scenario is that we are 1 game off of .500.

What we need to realize is that by continuing to neglect the linebacking corps and keeping the secondary as-is, we are putting all the pressure on our offense to beat the Falcons for example.

Based on the personnel we have right now, Michael Vick gets one block at the line and he runs through our LB\'s and right past the secondary. Makes for a long day.

Without some run support, Davis and Foster are going to hurt us, even if Jake only throws for 25 yards.

The coming season is again shaping up to be a \"please don\'t let anything happen to Deuce\" kind of season.

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