Can we keep Nicks in 4 days?!
 

According to Carl Nicks... “In my mind, I pretty much am gone, to be honest. They’re gonna do something in the next four days that they haven’t done in the last four weeks?” said Nicks, referring to the lack of a contract proposal from the Saints. “I really don’t think so.”
They're gonna let him go guys. No doubt about it. Considering that we have bigger fish to fry with Drew being pissed and not really wanting to play in NOLA anymore after the fallout... Nicks is an afterthought. So who takes his place??

"In my mind, I pretty much am gone, to be honest," said Nicks, the top offensive guard on the market. The Saints still haven't so much as made a contract offer, and appear to have washed their hands of the two-time Pro Bowler and 2011 first-team All Pro. Nicks should have no shortage of suitors in free agency. At the very least, Nicks should expect bidding from Chicago and Dallas.

A lot can happen in four days, whatever happens; it'll all work out in the end...

He's gone. Question is... who takes his place? Our highest draft picks (assuming that we still have them come April) are going to be spent on defensive players that fit Spagnuolo's defensive scheme. We absolutely will not have the money to spend in free agency on a decent replacement. Who's on the roster now that we can trust with protecting Drew? Assuming of course that he's even our QB when next season rolls around.

I at least go for one or the other Nicks or Colston, but Nicks additude throughout the whole process has been down right bogus!!!! This is what you wanted had Condon to do!!! Now you are upset that a team that is right at the cap is struggling to make you an offer!!!

Welcome to the ATL Carl Nicks!

$20 says he's a Cowboy if we don't sign him.

Nicks in Atl? keep dreaming Caddie.. :blueshock:

I will take that bet! LOL

You'll owe me $20. Jerry Jones has already said he would be their biggest target if he hits the market. I don't think Atlanta can compete with Daddy War Bucks.

All ready said Atlanta is looking at Nicks and Super Mario.

Atlanta doesn't have the cap room compared to Dallas to compete for Nicks...

He aint got the cap space Atlanta's got!

...

Atlanta's got over 30 mill in cap space and they will can Baker that will add 5 more mill! And will cut Ovie for another 3 mill.

Good Luck... :rolleyes:

LMAO so you just found out the Cowboys only have 12.5 mill in cap space! You were saying something about running a mouth!

The Cowboys will have 20 mil+ cap room and the Bears will be around 28 mil+, good luck!

Thanks! But 35 mill+ beats 20 mill and 28 mill every day of the week.

Keep dreaming, bro. Jones will go all out to keep Romo from taking the hits he's been taking for the last 3 years. Besides, you guys have alot of free agents in Atlanta to re-sign. Four offensive linemen plus your two best defensive players. That $30 million number won't be so high and it won't be just Dallas trying to get Nicks either.

At the end of the day, we'll be just fine without Nicks... just better with him. Next man up... someone else will relish the opportunity to block for Drew. It's a great career choice... either we make you rich or someone else will.

I don't see Atl offering more than the Cowboys, I'm sorry!

Good Luck trying though

Nicks- "I pretty much am gone"
 

Free agent LG Carl Nicks confirmed to WWL-TV in New Orleans that he does not expect to be back with the Saints.

"In my mind, I pretty much am gone, to be honest," said Nicks, the top offensive guard on the market. The Saints still haven't so much as made a contract offer, and appear to have washed their hands of the two-time Pro Bowler and 2011 first-team All Pro. Nicks should have no shortage of suitors in free agency. At the very least,

We have already signed 3 and where in the world are you getting 4 O-line men from? We are going to get Nicks and draft one. Atlanta has twice the Cap space as Jones he can only go so high. I want my $20.00 when all is said and done! lol.

How much of that 30, will it take to get Mario though?

Tell Faine and Goodwin and Kreutz we said hi

They got enough to get both. But they will get one or the other. Time will tell.

This is bad news. I understand why there's not a deal done at this point but they haven't even been in contact or made an offer? It seems like there was no effort to keep him at all.

Do we have a guard in our "bullpen" that the rest of us don't know about who is ready to step up into Nicks' place? It's the only thing I can think of that would explain this odd decision...

The Saints got a ton on their plate right now. It leads to odd decisions! JMO.

This is Carl Nicks speaking, not Tom Condon and not the Saints. He has been through a grand total of 1 contract negotiation, which was for his rookie contract. He doesn't think they will give him an offer because they haven't yet and he expected one. In reality, the Saints haven't been given the cap figure and Condon has been wrapped up trying to get Drew signed.

I'm not saying that Carl will still be here come the 13th, but I don't think we can take his word as any indicator of the future.

Bingo!!! Nobody knows what the cap is yet. I thought they said they were going to announce it today but I guess that was just wishfull thinking.

Nicks needs to just hold on to his panties.

This whole cap figure fiasco is pitiful. Goodell needs to be removed. The NFL has gone to s**t since Tagliabue left.

Well I guess ATL is out of the Nicks race. They just signed OG from J-Ville late last night

I understand if we can't make the money work. Nicks is one of the top guards in the league and should be paid like it. What disappoints me is that we haven't really been in contact with him. What's that all about?

Lets try and remember who his agent is, Tom Condon. This dude plays so many games. he could very well be telling Nicks to say what he has been saying. I wouldn't worry to much about any of these negotiations until we hear that they either signed or they are released.

Nicks "In my mind, Im pretty much gone"
 

Carl Nicks: 'In my mind, I pretty much am gone' - NFL - Yahoo! Sports

Not sure if this was posted...pretty much says hes outta here....

Yep, I think the front office has decided we need his 9 million/year to address other positions.

I wanted Nicks, but the upside is we can probably sign a decent to above average OG that fits our system for half that price and we'd be able to resign Brees/Colston/Meachem AND upgrade a spot or two on defense.

Its the downside of the salary cap... Resource Allocation.

Really? Does he really think that a guard is worth 9mil? Hey, power to him if he thinks that's realistic.

If anything, de la Puente has shown that, with good coaching and desire, many overlooked players can have tremendous upside.

I hope his "inner posse" knocks some sense into his head about this. He's 2 more years in a Saints' uniform from being a shoo-in Hall of Famer, which no amount of money can buy, and which will pay a dividend for as long as he lives.

I found it annoying that WWL ran a poll equating Nicks wanting 9 million/year to "providing long term security to his family".

WTF???

As if 7 million dollars per year isn't enough to provide long term security for your family? What an insulting question.

I think the Saints might consider paying him that $8-9M/year if they had the cap for it, and if they hadn't signed Evans earlier to his contract.

De la Puente was really good, but I suspect that losing Nicks will reveal the weaknesses of both Bushrod and DLP, which were masked by the fact that they played next to the best offensive lineman in the league.

Another thing they could do in order to try and fit Nicks' salary under the cap would be to trade Bushrod, since he has only a year left in his contract, and while he is not being payed high LT money, I think he is borderline over-payed as it is. Trading him for a pick(s) and replacing him with either Brown, FA, or a rookie might work if they could then hold on to Nicks. If my calculations are correct, the Saints would save at least around $3.5M towards the cap if they were to trade him.

Whatever happens with Nicks, I'm still happy that the Saints have Evans, because he has shown that he is a true professional. Even after he got the new contract, he hasn't been slacking off. And accepting the restructuring of his contract shows that he is willing to work with the team if needed - even though, as has been discussed, he probably benefited financially from the restructuring.