not going that far. dunbar is needed.

Hold your horses... Dunbar is a good LB, but not great and definitely not at the level where Vilma was in 2009 - before the two seasons with injuries.

If Vilma can overcome the injury-bug of the past two seasons and rehab successfully to his former level - there's no debate about whether or not the Saints should keep him.

But that is a big "if."

Exactly...

Vilma at 100% >>> anyone on our defense.

Vilma at 80% = lets take a closer look at Dunbar.

But this is where the problem is. Vilma was at or below 80% this year. YET he still played even when he was not at full strength. If he is still here with the same pay he will be on the field regardless.

Coach's get in love affairs with players. They say they are going to play the best player but it is just bs to make people feel warm and fuzzy. They are going to play the player making the most money. This is the time of the season to make changes. If we don't see some renegotiated contracts on defense, you know who your starter is going to be.

[QUOTE=CharityMike;377679]Coach's get in love affairs with players./QUOTE]

[see Les Miles/Jordan Jefferson]

I like Dunbar because of his aggressiveness. As much as I like him, I won't say he is better than a 100% Vilma. I do agree Dunbar is better than a 80% Vilma.

I hope Pro Coaches don't let "Favorites" play into "Who plays and who doesn't". I still just don't understand why Shanle was still out there. At some point "favortisim" seems like the only answer. So I see where you're coming from Mike.

The problem is Vilma the last 11/2 years, injury or not Dunbar our performed him hands down, facts are facts and favoritism went a long way in 2011 season. I don't live in the 2009 or whenever he played with the Jets, he should have rode the pine in 2011 and Dunbar should have been in the middle and if, that is a big if, Vilma could have beat Dunbar out in play and not favoritism then and only then should he had got the middle back. Tell me Vilma played up to his pay or even a fraction of his pay, in truth he played about as bad as a starting MLB could have played. I will not miss him if he leaves, we need a better MLB and so far Dunbar is it, if he gets beat out by someone better so be it but until then he earned the right to be the starter.

his knees are done...he makes 2-3 big hits a game that look great...but he is a shadow of his old self...unless he takes a MAJOR pay cut, i see him elsewhere...

I agree he's lacking in that department

But is he lacking in coverage as an OLB or in the middle? His true position is MLB so maybe he needed time to adjust playing outside.

He just doesn't have the lateral quickness for the outside. He's a pretty good 2 down thumper inside... but he's blocked there by Vilma. Tez and Casillas should be our two guys on the outside and I'd have no issues with Dunbar becoming our full time MLB. We need some cap space so something has to give. And if we go smaller on the DL, Vilma's weakness has always been shedding blockers... which is why he struggled in the 3-4. Dunbar would make more sense as he's more physically fit to do so.