2013 Saints - Free Agency Targets
 

Hate that we're having this discussion in mid December, but got to distract myself from the thoughts of the 50pt shellacking and Falcons Playoffs Discussion and remain positive to reassert our place in the NFL Food Chain...

A look ahead to the 2013 New Orleans Saints with Free Agents in italics, FA Targets in Bold, and an "*" indicating Injured Reserve...

Offense
QB Drew Brees, Chase Daniel
RB Pierre Thomas, Darren Sproles, Mark Ingram, Chris Ivory (RFA), Travaris Cadet
FB Jed Collins
LT Jermon Bushrod, Charlie Brown
LG Ben Grubbs, Eric Olsen (RFA)
C Brian De La Puente (RFA), Antoine Caldwell (HOU)
RG Jahri Evans
RT Zach Strief, Will Robinson, Andre Smith (CIN)
TE Jimmy Graham, Dave Thomas, Mike Higgins
WR Marques Colston, Lance Moore, Devery Henderson, Joe Morgan, Courtney Roby, Nick Toon*

Defense

LDE Cameron Jordan, Junior Galette, Michael Johnson (CIN)
LDT Brodrick Bunkley, Akiem Hicks, Henry Melton (CHI)
RDT Sedrick Ellis, Tom Johnson, Tyrunn Walker, Glenn Dorsey (KC)
WLB Jonathan Vilma, Jonathan Casillas, Chris Chamberlain*
MLB Curtis Lofton, Ramon Humber
SLB David Hawthorne, Will Herring, Scott Shanle, Daryl Smith (JAX)
LCB Jabari Greer, Johnny Patrick
RCB Patrick Robinson, Elbert Mack, Corey White, Captain Munnerlyn (CAR)
SS Roman Harper, Isa Abdul-Quddus, Jarius Byrd (BUF)
FS Malcolm Jenkins, Rafael Bush, Matt Giordano (OAK)

Kicking
DS Justin Drescher (RFA)
P Thomas Morstead
K Garret Hartley

Re: 2013 Saints - Free Agency Targets
 

Wasn't Dorsey just as big of a bust as Ellis? No thanks!

Re: 2013 Saints - Free Agency Targets
 

Branden Albert, OT. Chiefs
Michael Johnson, DE, Cincinnati Bengals
Henry Melton DT Chicago Bears

Re: 2013 Saints - Free Agency Targets
 

Hagan, Do you think we could afford Albert? He would be an awesome add to our line...

Re: 2013 Saints - Free Agency Targets
 

Dorsey would be affordable and a fresh start might just be what he needs...

Re: 2013 Saints - Free Agency Targets
 

Not a bust, but disappointing. It should be noted the Chiefs switched to a 3-4 in his 2nd season. He's not a 3-4 NT and certainly not a 3-4 DE, he's a 4-3 undertackle all day long.

I'd certainly kick the tires.

Re: 2013 Saints - Free Agency Targets
 

Saints 2013 cap $137.5 million .
NFL 2013 cap is going to be about $120 million.

restructured/cut

Defensive end Will Smith, $14.5 million
Guard Jahri Evans, $9.8 million
Linebacker Jonathan Vilma, $8.6 million
Guard Ben Grubbs, $7.3 million
Safety Roman Harper, $7.1 million
Linebacker Curtis Lofton, $7.1 million
Receiver Marques Colston, $6.6 million
Cornerback Jabari Greer, $5.4 million
Receiver Lance Moore, $4.7 million
Defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley, $4.7 million
Linebacker David Hawthorne, $4.8 million
Linebacker Will Herring, $1.9 million


the money can be freed up. but Mickey will once again need to a magic trick or two again

Re: 2013 Saints - Free Agency Targets
 

Reality

LOT
Ok as for Albert i see the chiefs tagging him if they can not sign them.

Ryan Clady – DEN - Manning will not let him go

that leaves Jake Long Dolphins as the marquee LT tagged twice? nope aint happening.

Long will want about $11 million a year, and a monster signing bonus. That would eat everything up.

So if the saints have a rabbit to pull out of their hat with a player i am over looking Bushrod aint going any where.

Thats why i am thinking the saints should spend most of the money in FA on the defense unless you want to add players on offense like

WR
Wes Welker (NE) - anyone? lol there goes the money again

TE
Delanie Walker (SF) - knows how to play the number 2 TE roll already

Re: 2013 Saints - Free Agency Targets
 

Big dollar signing always like a good laugh,

Cliff Avril DE Lions - consecutive years of the tag lol i think not. lets see the asking price but i am not that crazy about taking him on.

Darrelle Revis, CB what needs to said here? now there goes all the mony

Upper Mid Level - now one or maybe two are possible

Michael Johnson, DE, Cincinnati Bengals
At 6'7, 270 pound with terrific athleticism. A young and up coming DE that i have really problems seeing the Bengals letting walk. But to tag him to keep him is another issue all together. so there is a chance if he wants to test the market

Henry Melton DT Chicago Bears
Melton is 6'3" tall and weighs 295 pounds. I do think Bears will allow a 26-year old interior pass rusher to walk. But worth keeping an eye on.

Louis Delmas SS Lions
one of the better hard hitting safeties in the NFL. were as he may not be the headline grabing safeties in the nfl he is definitly one of the few truely steady ss in the league. I think as Cliff Avril goes same for Louis. Will they put the money out to keep both?

Jarius Byrd FS Bills
Yet another young player that has proven his worth and looks to only get better. I would snag him in a heart beat. but i do not see this happening, if it did

Sean Smith, Cornerback - ????? hard call here

Rational - these are solid depth moves that should be very cap friendly

Terrance Knighton NT Jags
he's among the best young run-stoppers in the league. Now in the pass happy NFL he could be had at a good price.

Mike Patterson, DT Eagles
Spagnuolo was still working in Philly when the Eagles selected him in the first round of the 2005 draft. There should be a fire sale in Philli and players wanting to get the hell out of dodge. Plus coaches like to drag players around with them so i had to throw him in

Re: 2013 Saints - Free Agency Targets
 

I agree Hagan that it's going to be difficult to fill that LT spot with a quality free agent with the salary restrictions the Saints have, and therefore, it would probably be wise for them to try and get a LT from the draft as rookies - even those picked in high rounds - are nowadays much more affordable than they were under the old CBA.

Like you already touched upon, LTs make a lot of money in free agency, and that is another reason why I doubt Bushrod will re-sing with the Saints as he'll probably get a bigger deal elsewhere, and I really doubt he wants to give the Saints any discount at this point in his career. I think that he will get overpaid by someone, and Loomis has shown that he isn't willing to overpay O-lineman as was the case with Nicks and Goodwin.

It'll be interesting to see how they'll manage to restructure someone like Evans' contract, since he still has 4 years to go on the contract, and all of those years have a $9M+ cap number - I doubt he'll want more years added to his contract and I doubt he'll want to push back any of that base salary toward the latter years. A sizable bonus conversion could work, but it would only present further problems going forward.

The LB depth does look fairly good even if the Saints part ways with Vilma and do not re-sign Shanle, as Casillas should be rather cheap to re-sing since there was no interest in him last offseason and Herring could potentially restructure like you mentioned. Also, Chamberlain - who was really impressive in the preseason before his season ending injury - has another 2 years to go on his contract with $1.05M and $1.1M cap numbers, so if he has successfully rehabbed to his former self, he could be another interesting asset and could even make cutting Herring or not re-signing Casillas possible.

In any case, Loomis will undoubtedly make some magic happen with the current contracts, and hopefully the draft has all the right guys available at the right moment for the Saints, so that they can maximize the draft gain.