Deflection.

He said the pick was awful. That has ZERO to do with the extension.

Not deflection, goes to the continuance of a mistake in bringing that guy into the organization...

Instead of acknowledging the mistake of drafting him he's offered an extension to make it look like he's invaluable to the team...Big Mistake...

Not deflection, goes to the continuance of a mistake in bringing that guy into the organization...

Instead of acknowledging the mistake of drafting him he's offered an extension to make it look like he's invaluable to the team...Big Mistake...

Grant was a good DE for a season or two, and he was playing like a 1st rounder during that time-span, but he declined rapidly and just didn't have the mental side to make a lasting impact. While you can and do naturally take the mental side into consideration when scouting players, it's a much harder thing to get right than the physical prowess of a certain player, so it's hard to blame the scouting department for that.

Grant's extension was an overpayment for sure - given what we know now - and it was even more so damaging because it set a precedent for Will Smith to ask for an equally pricey extension when his turn came around... the contract he is on at the moment, although it was re-structured.

It's pretty much the same thing with that contract as happened with Jahri Evans and Carl Nicks - although Evans is on a completely different level than Grant and has earned his keep many times over - which basically set a precedent for Nicks that the Saints couldn't afford to pay him. And that is the one thing I criticize Loomis for: overpaying on extensions. Roman Harper is another example of this, and a definite overpayment. This is also why I was glad they let players like Meachem and Porter go elsewhere rather than overpaying them to stay.