Cowboys could make play to sign Carl Nicks
 

Nicks is widely considered to be among the best, if not the best, left guards in the NFL. The Saints enjoy one of the best duo’s of guards in the league as well, thanks to the paring of Nicks with Pro Bowler Jahri Evans.

Last season the Saints ranked sixth in the NFL in total rushing with 132.9 yards per game. Their favorite run was of course to the left side behind the 6-foot-5 inch 343 pound road grater that Nicks has become.

But with little cap space the Saints may have some tough decisions ahead, as not only do they need to try and re-sign Brees and Nicks, but top wide receiver Marques Colston is in need of a new deal.
Cowboys could make play to acquire Saints OL Carl Nicks

Bad news when Jerry talks about throwing "money" at something.

This would suck. I am going to stick with my feeling that why would we let a pro bowl caliber player just walk and get nothing in return. It doesn't make sense and I really think he is going to stay and we lose Colston. Just my opinion.

What if he starts throwing money at Brees?

Step 1 - Get Drew's contract done.
Step 2 - Franchise Nicks.
Step 3 - Give Jerry Jones the finger.

That's different. If Jerry started a "bidding war" for Brees that would force the Saints organization spend more money on Brees than intended, and the Saint would probably spend it.

Unfortunately for Jerry, when the Cowboys weren't expecting it, the Saints would create a bidding war for players they need... and at a time they least expect it, and payback would be a female dog.

If Brees said he didn't want to play for the Saints anymore that would be different.

Jerry can do anything, but I believe there are some "business understandings" that I think all the NFL owners run with.

COULDN't HAVE SAID IT ANY BETTER!

Save the damn franchise tag, don't use it on Brees. Get his deal DONE!

If we did lose Nicks, how would Brees effectiveness drop off? I think both these guards are a big part of Brees success because of Brees throwing style.

I trust Mickey Loomis to make all the right moves for us, he knows what he's doing

Even more so, how would it affect the running game?

The NFL has some good safeguards against full-out bidding wars. Namely, getting into a bidding war over one player guarantees the pirating of all the remaining good players on the squad. Jerry Jones has demonstrated that he truly believes that enough money can buy an NFL Championship, with predictable results. Still, I doubt even Jerry Jones would be dumb enough to seriously consider a bidding war over Drew Brees.

For Brees it won't be about money, so I would love to see JJ break the bank with an offer. Drew could wait as long as he wanted to say NO, causing dallas to lose other potential FAs

Unfortunately, the longer we wait to sign Brees, the less likely we'll be able to franchise Nicks.

Nicks is our best O-lineman, we don't wanna see him walk away just because we wanna piss off Jerry Jones.

I'm all for stealing Demarcus Ware from under his nose. ;-)

That line needs to stay intact is my first reaction but then again, I've seen Peyton Manning manage just fine with a makeshift line put together in mid season.

I would cut Will Smith in a heart beat if it meant keeping Nicks, Smith has never been worth his contract. Nicks protects Drew and the Saints need to do all they can to keep Drew and this offense clicking on all cylinders

I would cut Will Smith in a heartbeat, even if it didn't mean keeping Nicks. ;-)

I'd cut Will Smith if we could get Demarcus Ware :D

For heaven's sake....


http://nwhog.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/cuts1.jpg

Jerry, wants 'em, get two No. 1's for 'em then when you franchise him...

the same running game we DIDNT use against the niners??? ala 63 pass attempts or whatever it was..How do we run it all year and abandon it in the playoffs...i dont care if we were down 17 or 70 either. If we arent going to use him for pounding the rock then get rid of him and sign Colston and Brees..Replace the guy just like SP has done with our entire line over the years

Cut Shanle to pay for feeding Carl Nicks for one more year.

Cut Porter in order to... well... show him that he should have continued to play football on this team in order to be a part of it. Hold Spag's responsible for signing his replacement. I'm sure he has someone in mind.

Imagine - If "we" had not allowed our starting QB to reach his full glory by setting that record. With it, he has reason to stay and finish what he has started. Without it he may have been led away by some rich owner looking to jumpstart his sorry team.

Replace Shanle with... well... a traffic cone, if we have to. But I'm sure Spags has someone in mind for that too.

Colston will not leave Drew... well... unless he is not interested in a Super Bowl home game next year.

We don't need a draft, really. We have a championship team. We just needed to fill the vacuum that was Defensive Coordinator.

Alaska

Mickey Loomis hasn't failed us since he took over the reign's after Arnie.. I trust we are in good hand's, in fact im sleeping very comfortably at night.

If the Cowboys tries and puts up more money than the Saints can match atleast make it a poison pill.

true, but don't you think they have the deal in hand and are just waiting to see how much the other players cost? My thought is that they plan on giving 15 million, plus whatever is left after signing who they want. You have to figure Drew would give up a million or two to keep Nicks and Colston

Question- can we afford to franchise Nicks? we already gave his linemate the highest OL contract ever. Making Nicks top 3 or 5 or whatever franchising is would be expensive. Not sure 100% how that works

I think you have to keep Nicks and that O/L intact. Is Nicks a mercenary kind of player or is he a loyal kind of guy who's gonna' realize what he has in New Orleans? Would you rather bust your ass on Sunday for Drew Brees or Tony Romo?

Offensive lineman are a different animal, they think differently and I gotta' assume this guy isn't going to be drawn away by just the big contract.

Nicks is our second most key signing. I think that great run and pass blocking lineman are a difficult find. Especially if you look at the protection Drew received this season. It is very important to maintain this level of protection for Drew to be a effective. I think Nicks and Drew will be signed, beyond that who knows? Second hope is when we sign Nicks to a huge deal is that he continues to perform at the same level in the future. Also knowing we have given linemen big money in the past Nicks is going to want it, I would much rather see him to continue to protect Drew than Romo.

Well Goodwin - the former center - was during last FA period, and from the reports we got from the Saints' side, they wanted to keep him here, but SF gave him a better offer.

Money talks, that's the problem. J Jones is a D-Bag, but he has the money and that makes him dangerous.

This is why signing Drew quick is so important, after he is locked up then Loomis can franchise Nicks which would buy more time to sign him long term and then make sure Colston doesn't leave .... why would he want to, you have the best QB in the league throwing to you and a shot at multiple Superbowl rings, who in their right mind would want to leave?

I hate Jerry Jones, never liked him and never will

Jerry Jones is at the senior bowl. I go as often as I can but this year I am getting deloused instead. Good God that man ruins everything he touches. Skeletor with money is all he is.

Yeah, I guess I'm naive at times to think these guys won't chase the big contracts, especially the O/L who are mostly overworked and underpaid, but I guess what I'm asking is what kind of guy does the board think Nicks is? Is he a loyal, humble kind of guy that loves his QB as many O/L do, or is he a money-guy who wants some of the spotlight?

I would hate to see Nicks become a Cowboy, especially since I'm just starting to get to know the players and O/L is my passion.

Hey, how much hockey do you watch there in Finland? We got Valtteri Filppula playing LW in Detroit and he is tearing it up!

To answer your first question, I don't know if any of us really know Nicks' true character, but he did have some sideline altercations with the O-L coach during the season, so I'm not sure how good their relationship is, and if Nicks wants to continue working with him.

As for the second question, yeah I do watch a lot of hockey - more than football that's for sure. I used to play myself for quite a few years, but I quit at the second highest junior level, because I broke my hand pretty badly and to be honest the pro level was never going to be there for me with my skill-set.

Nowadays I only follow the NHL, because the Finnish national league - while not being all that bad - is just not entertaining enough to keep my interest. I do follow how my old team is doing from time to time, but I never go to see any of their games or watch them from the TV.

But, yeah Detroit is and has been a really good team and an annual contender for quite a few years now - ever since the Bowman years I guess - but I don't like Detroit that much mainly because they've had so many Swedish and Russian players in that team and very few if any Finns.

Actually I think they were the last team in the league to have a Finnish born player in their active roster. And that "Red Army" line-up you had back in the '90's with all the Russians and with your team colors being predominantly red like the former Soviet Union team colors were... man there were just too many bad mental images associated with that of the Soviets doing whatever they wanted to the Finnish national team.

I mainly watch the Sharks' games - I know you like that as a Redwings' fan - because they have a history of very few non-North American players on their rosters and they play the same type of fast breakout style entertaining hockey as do the Redwings, and in no small part because their HC is the former assistant HC of the Redwings. Also, they have a Finnish goalie, which seems to be more of a rule than an exception in the NHL nowadays, at least in the Western Conference.

Filppula is ok, but from a Finnish team I despise with vigor and, therefore, I can't find myself rooting for the guy. I know there's going to be some re-alignment for next season involving Winnipeg and Dallas, but I also recall that there was some discussion of Detroit also wanting to chance over to the Eastern Conference. Do you know if anything will materialize on that front?

Do you go to any Redwings games?

Drew not going anywhere Nicks should be the top signing

YES
YES
YES YES YES YES YES

+1

and Bad news when Jerry talks but this ain't the time for jokes :(

The more I see about this, it seems Brees is going to be instrumental in ironing stuff like this out in order to keep that O/L together. I hope so, it's in his and the team's best interest ... but you know, if a guy's gonna' chase the big bucks, you gotta' move on I guess.

Didn't want to hijack the thread with hockey talk, so I'm starting a 'hockey' group, lol! Everyone welcome, and besides, it's the off-season, let's broaden our horizons, eh?

Ummm...Hockey?? K thanks but I will pass. We don't know nothing about hockey in NO. I am sure some people do but this is a football town.

... hey Mike, that's not very 'charitable', lol! Just kidding ... I understand completely and just didn't want to foul up the football threads with 'hockey' talk. But it's there, say, come July when the sun's beating down and you need a place to keep cool ... man! I shoulda' called the group "The Rink" !