Saints D-Line: Who Stays, Who Goes
 

With the season now in the rearview mirror – though some would say not far enough behind with wounds still open – we believe at WWLTV.com it’s time to hit on our yearly “roster check,” our assessment of who should be or should not be with the club come training camp in July.

We don’t think this will help close the wound that the playoff game opened. It might, in fact, open it more and for that we apologize.

For the next few work days, we’ll go position group by position group (secondary, linebackers, defensive line, offensive line and skill players) and give our opinions on the players and situations.

Defensive Line
Ends: Will Smith, Jeff Charleston, Junior Galette, Cameron Jordan, Turk McBride
Linemen: Aubrayo Franklin, Shaun Rogers, Sedrick Ellis, Tom Johnson

Full article.
Saints: Who could stay and who could go - Defensive Line | wwltv.com New Orleans

Players that stay - Turk mcbride, Tom Johnson, aubrayo franklin, junior, cam Jordan

Sed Ellis, will smith, Shaun rogers and if Greg Romeus gets healthy I can see charleston being released aswell

Rodgers and Ellis need to be cut. Bring in 2 more DT's 1or both in the draft, I can see Spags. bringing in 1 in FA. We need a much needed push in the middle. As the DE's go, Smith can go, entirely to much money being paid out for his lack of production, Romeus will start in 4 games or less. I think Chaleston is a quality back-up and may take a hit with Spags. I hope the lb.'s are next.

You missed it. The lb's were last week.

I just found the link for lb's: http://www.wwltv.com/sports/black-an...138660944.html

Thanks!! I was out of town.

Stays - Will Smith, Cam Jordan, Junior Galette, Sedrick Ellis

Everyone else can be replaced, and their jobs are not safe at all.

Cut: Smith, Franklin, Mcbride, Charleston I would cut Jordan if last year wasn't his rookie year.

That 3 of our top 5 D-linemen.

Wouldn't you rather keep them and see how they play under Spagnuolo?

No doubt we have dead weight on the defense. I feel sure Spags will weed them out. I agree with waiting to see who will flurish in the new scheme.

I like Jabari Greer always have... Malcomn Jenkins can stay too....
Patrick Robinson can go... I'm tired of seeing the in a 3rd and 6ish and he lines up 10 yards off them.
Get old watching them run, turn, catch, convert!

Ummm in case you missed it, they all were doing that. That was the retarded scheme, blame GW.

I heard a report today that Will Smith cap number could pay Osi's Contract or two ( to use a basketball term ) mid - level free agents to come and play for us.

Will Smith, Cam Jordan, Junior Galette, Sedrick Ellis Turk Mcbride, Tom Johnson, Aubrayo Franklin,.

Spags, Ok fellas show me what ya got. Or I'll show you the door.

I'm hoping Loomis convinces him to restructure.

Well his 2012 cap hit with the existing contract would be $9.75M, but that's nothing compared to the $11.75M in 2013.

So there's a dire need to restructure his contract keeping in mind that the Saints have to sign Graham to a long term contract after 2012, and that $11.75M cap hit won't help make that a reality, although he doesn't become an UFA until 2014.

Will Smith takes a pay cut. Sed Ellis takes a pay cut.
The fate of Franklin and Rogers depend on who else we're able to bring in.
Cut Jordan some slack. God****, if our first round picks aren't instantly All-Pro then they must be awful.
Galette stays.
McBride's fate is tied to whatever his price tag ends up being.
Hopefully a healthy Romeus can contribute.
Crick (3rd round) and Wolfe (5th round) will be key contributors.

If Loomis can make the cap hit work then cut Will Smith, Saints need to cut some of this overpaid under performing weight on defense to keep the key free agents they have this year

I bet Will Smith will take a cut to stick around. No way will he want to play anywhere else. Cam and Galette steps up, the rest are journeymen.
See ya

Smith, Ellis, Rogers gone

You guys are really quick to get rid of, for better or worse, our best d-linemen. If we don't have a better option, and at this point I'm not sure we do, cleaning house is a terrible idea.

No one else wants his overpriced a**, so it's restructure or hit the road.

As for the rest.....Ellis takes a pay cut or hits the road, too. he hasn't impressed since being drafted. Greer stays. He's solid in all aspects at CB. Jenkins......well.....one more year. Robinson......with help could be really good. Porter.....Haven't seen him make a play since the Super Bowl......see ya. Vilma......same as Jenkins.......one more year. Shanle.....has already been here 3 years too long.

Might be no other team would want him, he surely doen't deserve the money he is getting. I really don't know if I would offer him back-up money to stay. Pay the money to someone else that actually deserves it. Same for Vilma they both need to be humbled and Ellis to.

We better hope that some other team wants him if the Saints end up cutting him!

Many seem to forget that it is not free to cut players and also cutting many players while they still have multiple years to go on their contracts doesn't really send a positive message to potential FA signings - it says that the Saints' organization does not honor the contracts they make with players.

Finding a way through negotiations which will both benefit the Saints' organization, but also the individual players is the key, and if that is done in a civil and reasonable way - I see no problems with the Saints being able to field a good outfit on the D next season.

It also says....if you do not play up to your contract, you could be looking for a job.....something I'm okay with.

But if that is the concern, why aren't the contracts more incentive based in the first place, which would in effect make the players earn their extra salary through performance?

Because Master P isn't writing up contracts anymore! C'mon, Fin,.....everybody knows that. :-)

And it probably makes it impossible to plan for next years cap, since contracts would be too variable.

Not at the expense of Colston and Nicks...

Not sure how any of those guys other than Smith have any effect at all on keeping Colston/Nicks.

And Franklin's a free agent, he's basically already cut.

I wouldn't be totally against seeing Franklin return to the black & gold.

I think he had a hard time adjusting to being a DT in a base 4-3 coming from being a NT in 3-4 system, but he has skills and the ability to be dominant and maybe Spags can get that potential to show up on the field.

The reason why I say this is that he might be available for cheap, because there were not a lot of competition to sign him during last FA period - it came down to him basically re-signing with the SF or signing with the Saints. After the disappointing season he had, it's hard for me to see him getting more attention this time around.

He might be willing to sign another 1-year deal maybe in the $2.5-3M range, which wouldn't totally break the bank while adding a solid performer and creating depth.

Franklin's 2011 cap hit was $4M and if I remember correctly Rogers' cap hit was a touch over $4M - if Frankin re-signed for $3M, that would still leave $5M to try and sign another DT while keeping the DT cap hit the same.

So true on Ellis, we all have been waiting for this Guy to blow the doors off.. old GW said he was going to have this great season Blah,Blah,Blah.
That's what we have to do RESTRUCTURE these over paid guys. Yes we might take a big hit on them in the pocket. But come on, why keep dead weight around. Lets face it we all know we need a overhaul

Defensive Front Four (Spag 4-3 history)

LDE Free Agent to be Named (Campbell, Avril or Williams)
NT Aubrayo Franklin, FA Red Bryant
3T Cam Jordan, FA Jason Jones
RDE Gallette/Romeus

We have enough defense ends to trade or cut that we could raise enough capital to afford a proven DT. Ellis is a disappointment to me. No it factor.

UUUUHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! :)