CharityMike

Roman Harper and Malcolm Jenkins, safeties, Saints. Congratulations are due to Harper. He now has gone more than two years since his last interception. That came on Sept. 20, 2010. His fellow starter, Jenkins, also is closing in on the two-year anniversary of his last interception. That came Dec. 12, 2010.

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I am really in awe. I shouldn't be but I am. 2 years??? 2 years!!!!
Call the authorities because he is straight robbing us!

Boutte

A bucket could do better than that.

Ashley

HA that was funny

dizzle88

We need a ball hawk in the draft, what you see is what you get with Harper, very good tackler and plays with a lot of heart, just can't catch a cold in Alaska

Jenkins on the other hand, I'm just not impressed, constantly out of position, drops picks when he has them

Harper makes more plays Jenkins, we need a ball hawk to replace jenkins

FinSaint

In all honesty I'd be totally on board with both of the safety spots being manned by different starters come next season, but the reality is that it won't happen because of the current contracts Harper and Jenkins have.

While Harper is under contract through the 2014 season, the Saints might release him after next season. The reason for this being that Harper was guaranteed $16M in his contract from which he will have already earned $10M after this current season. So, it would be logical for the Saints to keep him around for the 2013 season even with the $7.1M cap hit because they couldn't get a similar caliber player with the savings they would make by releasing him. I doubt very much they'll keep him around for the $7.9M cap hit in 2014, but, naturally, they could (and should) renegotiate and restructure his contract before that time.

Jenkins, on the other hand, isn't nearly as expensive as Harper is. His cap hit this season is $2.635M and it'll be $3.81M next season, so it's not like he is braking the bank as a starter. I guess the Saints might be able to arrange a trade with Jenkins, but if his performances don't improve drastically, I doubt there'll be a lot of suitors for his services. Also, if his performances improve drastically, there'll be no reason for the Saints to get rid of him.

I think Harper is a good SS, but his skill-set is fairly limited and while he does what he does best very well, he is being payed like a top tier safety. Jenkins' development has been a very big disappointment, because I honestly thought a couple of years back that he'd develop into a top tier safety himself - I wonder if GW broke him?!

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

Danno

And over the last 2 years Adrian Wilson, considered by many the best SS in the NFL, has a whopping 2 picks. Does he suck?

saintsfan1976

Thank you Danno.

TheOak

Try and temper that with an understanding of our d-backs not tackling but trying to spear receivers over the last few years. I remember a few of our d-backs laying on the ground after a play because they got a thigh to the side of their helmet trying to tackle (spear).

Williams did NOT have them playing the ball.

Sharper did his own thing because he was damn good at it.

CharityMike

LOL..true but to even put them together in the same ball park is a joke. If Harper was half the safety Wilson was/is, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Wilson(age 32) has been in the league 12 years. He has 845 tackles:13 FF: 27 INT

Harper(age 29) has been in league 7 years. He has 524 tackles: 14 FF: 4 INT

Apples and Oranges. Not a good reference.

Danno

Wasn't comparing the players, only pointing out that you don't judge how good or bad a SS is based on interceptions.

He's a perfect example of a great SS that has only two picks over the last two years.