voodooido

NEW ORLEANS -- Now that the Super Bowl is over, it’s time to start thinking about the offseason.

Free agency doesn’t start until mid-March, but we might as well start the speculation process. And we might as well start it with an intriguing piece of speculation.

Actually former New Orleans quarterback and current WWL Radio host Bobby Hebert started it when I joined his show last week. Hebert asked for my thoughts on the Saints pursuing Baltimore safety Ed Reed, who is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent.

Even though we still don’t know who New Orleans’ defensive coordinator will be or exactly what the defensive scheme will be, there are a lot of reasons why adding Reed would make sense.

First off, he’s a Louisiana native and he might be attracted to the possibility of finishing his career at home. Second, Reed looks like he still has something left in the tank physically.

But, perhaps most importantly of all, Reed would bring swagger and leadership to a defense that was horrible last season.

While the other three NFC South teams like to build through the draft and don’t often bring in players in their 30s, the Saints have shown a past willingness to go in the other direction. In 2009, they brought in veteran safety Darren Sharper and he helped get them a Super Bowl title.

The Saints need a lot of other pieces to fix their defense. But adding Reed, even if it’s only for a year, might help speed up the process of improving the defense.