saintsfan1976

He's a salary cap starter.

Speedy Ron

say what you want buddy...with Vilma making 6 + milli i wouldnt be surprised if Dunbar is your starter next year. Vilma had a really bad year. I would like to see his stat comparison from previous years. I think he lost a step and could be falling off.

QBREES9

Bad against the pass, bad against the run, and has not even rushed the passer for Gregg Williams.

Dam the truth hurts.

Boutte

Actually I think that was 2008.

FinSaint

Go see them here:

Jonathan Vilma, MLB for the New Orleans Saints at NFL.com

2008 and 2009 were really good years for him - his production dropped off a little last year, but as we can remember he was banged up also at the end 2010 season - then this season his production was way down and he only played in 11 games.

Unfortunately, those stats don't reveal anything about the quality of his decision making as the signal caller for the defensive unit, which is something some people here on these boards have brought into question.

Even with the injuries, I still believe he is a quality player with an above average intelligence on and off the field. If he was given better OLBs than Herring and Shanle he would undoubtedly play better, and the Saints' front 4 have to take some of the blame for the bad LB play.

Vilma has a big contract, but he will be hard to move with his recent troubles with his health. If Spags thinks he can work with him, I think he can have a real comeback year next season - provided he has some better supporting cast around him and better overall defensive schemes inside of which to work in.

Will Smith's and Sedrick Ellis' big contracts are the ones that worry me more than Vilma's.

"I'm not bashing people, I'm bashing their opinions because in my opinion their opinion is wrong" - Danno

CharityMike

I think it was. This was a banner year for Scott. He had his second highest tackles of his career with 87. He also had 2 sacks and a FF. MVP MVP MVP!!!

papz

Certainly not a Shanle lover, but definitely a Shanle supporter... especially when he's on the field.

I think we all can and have agreed he's not a starting LB for our team... better suited as a 4th/5th LB. With that said, as much as people value Fujita's leadership skills and football IQ, Shanle brings the same to the table imo. I find that as a fan base we like to make Shanle our scapegoat... it's not his fault no one can beat him out for a job.

dizzle88

Put shanle on special teams and have Vilma/dunbar in the middle, whoever plays the best in camp
Martez on one side, maybe casillas on the other depending on if he can stay healthy.
I'd draft a young LB to take casillas spot, him constantly getting injured is what keeps letting shanle back in the starting lineup

FinSaint

Not sure if the Saints are even going to bring Dunbar back. Because the Saints' will still play predominantly from the base 4-3, so having two strict MLBs won't cut it, and Dunbar wasn't nearly as effective when he wasn't playing from the center.

And Dunbar would probably want at least Shanle/Herring money, so maybe they'll create more depth with some young LB from some other team's PS or from the draft.

I guess the whole LB corps situation is determined by what decisions they make regarding Vilma and his future with the Saints, because that'll determine who they have to get and how much they can spend getting them.

"I'm not bashing people, I'm bashing their opinions because in my opinion their opinion is wrong" - Danno

AlaskaSaints

What I know is; we won't know until we KNOW! LOL

Alaska