jeanpierre

If we resign Bushrod, I would pay him good right tackle money and give him a little lagniappe on the signing bonus for his effort at left tackle...

hagan714

Depth/Starter That might be very cap friendly backups that can step in play starter if needed. It will be fun to see what the market offers these guys. some will cash in i am sure

Offensive Tackles: Jermon Bushrod – NO

Tyler Polumbus, Redskins ROT, 6-8 312
Salary cap hit 2012 $540,000
2008 undrafted free agent
2012 full-time starter for the first time. great size and decent mobility, struggled at times with leverage on some blocks. He has now played in this zone-blocking scheme in Denver, Seattle and Washington.

Centers/Guards:

Mike Pollak, Panthers OG/C, 6-4 301
Salary cap hit 2012 $765,000
2008 2nd Round
Started 41 of 58 games for the Colts from 2008-11. More successful as a pass blocker than a run blocker.
Pollak had season-ending injured in Week 1 - shoulder

WR

David Nelson Bills 6-5 217 26
Salary cap hit 2012 $494,000
2010 NFL Draft undrafted free agent
coming off ACL and ready to roll? 6-5 slot wr to go with graham ans Colston? definitely worth a look. A very good No. 3 receiver or more production in the slot should go after the 6’5″, 26-year-old. Nelson has been recovering quickly from the injury, and he is expected to make OTAs.

Danarrio Alexander restricted free agent

Tight Ends:

Brandon Myers Oak 6 3 256 28
Salary cap hit 2012 $587,750
2009 6th Round
Athlete to play H-back and is a very good blocker. He has been a back up to Miller and Boss since being drafted by Oakland in the sixth round in 2009 finally getting his chance he had career highs in catches (79), yards (806), and touchdowns (4) 4.78 draft forty

DE

Matt Shaughnessy OAK 6-5 285 27
Salary cap hit 2012 $565k
2009 3rd Round
One of the best run-stopping defensive ends and will never be a speed rusher, but he can push the pocket and help a speed rusher on the other side gain sacks. third-round pick in 2009.
(shoulder surgery - 2011)

DE/DT

Desmond Bryant Oak 6-6 300 27
Salary cap hit 2012 $1,927,000
2009 undrafted free agent
He had five sacks and 35 tackles last season, both career highs.
Maybe one of the best interior rushers in the NFL, showed an ability to be an interior pass rusher. Now he might be an intriguing fit for the saints aggressive 3-4 defense. under-the-radar force or a one year wonder in Oakland last season? Worth the risk?

arrested in Miami on Sunday morning on the charge of criminal mischief.


DT/NT

Sammie Lee Hill Lions 6-4 329 26
Salary cap hit 2012 $1.26M tender in 2012
2009 4th Rounder
Hill could be a cheap sleeper. Hard to know what you get here because he only really started as a Rookie then the Lions drafted two DT with #1 picks. The times in the field he has shown flashes of promise. Enough to get tendered in 2012.

Terrance Knighton Jags 6-3 336 26
Salary cap hit 2012 $1,470,964
2009 3rd Round
He was one of the best young run-stoppers in the league till last year. Getting replaced as a starter only helps save money. He should be available at a cap friendly price. At 336 lbs. weight has been an on going issue. Perfect candidate for a one year deal to prove himself.

Richard Seymour 6-6 317 $13,714,000
Even at age 33, Seymour still can help out in 2013.


ILB

Brad Jones Packers 6-3 242 26
Salary cap hit 2012 $630,063
2009 7th round
Packers would like to re-sign ILB Jones - very solid pass defender and good against the run. Young and upcoming ILB?
A.J. Hawk contract will determine what happens here imo cut A.J. Hawk?


OLB

Victor Butler Cowboys 6-2 248 26
Salary cap hit 2012 $739,635
2009 - Fourth round
11 regular season sacks, say what?, with limited snaps behind DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer. Not too too bad. He can be effective coming off the bench and being part of a rotation.

CB - ok a budget cb? lol

Leodis McKelvin 5'10' / 186 /27 - CB Bills
Salary cap hit 2012 $2,684,584
2008 First round
4 draft picks on cornerbacks in the last two drafts? McKelvin to special teams duty. McKelvin was among the league's best return men this season. He averaged a league-leading 18.7 yards per punt return and brought two punts to the house. He also ranks fourth in kick-return average at 28.3 yards. McKelvin as a CB seems to be a slot corner.Dime guy maybe nickle. So might be reasonably priced.

(groin) on injured reserve, ending his season

"We may have lost the game, but you'll be hurting tomorrow." Doug Atkins

SloMotion

I think you're on to something with Sammie Hill. Spending the season debunking the "Suh is double-teamed on every play" myth, I noticed Sammie Hill actually attracts quite a few double teams himself & really does a good job operating in the shadows of Suh/Fairley. I'm not surprised to hear there's a few teams giving him a good look, don't know if he played NT in college, but I bet he could if the price is right.

hagan714

here are your star war collectables

Shoe.

Nice work hagan, these look to be the affordable free agents that we could realistically target. Lots of the other names that I've seen tossed around sound great and all, but there's just no way given our cap situation

jeanpierre

Projecting the 2013 Defense Depth Chart, accounting for the 3-4 formation, we currently look like this:

DE Cameron Jordan, Tom Johnson

NT Brodrick Bunkley, Akiem Hicks

DE Will Smith, Tyrunn Walker, Romeus, Greg IR

SAM David Hawthorne, Will Herring

MIKE Curtis Lofton, Ramon Humber

WILL Jonathan Vilma, Chris Chamberlain IR

JACK Junior Galette, Martez Wilson

LCB Jabari Greer, Elbert Mack

SS Roman Harper, Rafael Bush

FS Malcolm Jenkins IR, Isa Abdul-Quddus, Jerico Nelson

RCB Patrick Robinson, Corey White IR

FinSaint

Where would you place Braylon Broughton if anywhere... OLB or DE ?

jeanpierre

The Saints list him as 6' 6" 272#...

I say he's an undersized, slighly 3-4 defensive end...

FinSaint

I really don't think he's 6-6 actually, since nfldraftscout.com had him as 6-4 coming out of college and profootballweekly.com had him as 6-4 1/4 - maybe he has grown taller in a year, but I doubt it.

So, 6-4, 272; OLB perhaps?

That would put him in the same size class as, for example, Martez Wilson but only 20 lbs heavier - 20 lbs he has put on since coming out of college.

jeanpierre

If he's at 272# as reported by the Saints on his NFL card, he'd have an awfully difficult time operating in space as an outside linebacker, even in the 3-4 formation...

NFL Draft Scout had him at a height of 6' 4" and a weight of 257# coming out of TCU...

He's had some personal challenges early in his life, and didn't play football till his senior year of high school and only started half the games of his senior year at TCU...

NFL Draft Scouts reports that scouts think the physical tools are there - maybe he could serve as a "tweener" for the Saints DE/OLB...

Now able to earn a "poor man's wage" in the NFL; he should be able to focus on football and maybe develop...

May see another season as a Developmental Squad Teammate

It's not that my way is the right way, I just make the right way my way...