SmashMouth

The first days of free agency can be a roller-coaster ride for NFL teams (and for their fans). This year has been no exception for the New Orleans Saints.


They took some big hits on the first day of free agency, losing Jermon Bushrod and Chase Daniel and causing a bit of anguish among their fans who don't have the stomach for the Saints' patient, measured approach to free agency. But Wednesday provided a little more reason for excitement and optimism.



The Saints showed that they indeed are intent in finding some new weapons for their defense. They have lined up visits with two of the top young cornerbacks on the free agent market in the Pittsburgh Steelers' Keenan Lewis and the Jacksonville Jaguars' Derek Cox. The New Orlean native Lewis, in particular, has been rated by many analysts as one of the better young talents available in this year's free agent class.

They have also reportedly shown interest in big-name free agent cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha (who once thrived under Saints coordinator Rob Ryan with the Oakland Raiders). Clearly they are intent on adding depth at cornerback, where they still believe that incumbents Jabari Greer and Patrick Robinson are valuable assets but better fits in a three-man rotation.

And colleague Larry Holder learned from a source that the Saints were very aggressive in their attempts to sign top pass rusher Paul Kruger before he opted for a bigger pay day with the Cleveland Browns.

So the Saints are well aware of their need to upgrade their talent on defense. And they almost certainly will add one or two significant newcomers before all is said and done. There are still plenty of intriguing players available and some likely will come at a bargain rate as more time passes.

These last two days have fallen right in line with how the Saints usually do business in free agency. And though I have expressed serious concern about how they will handle the loss of Bushrod, it's hard to argue with the Saints' track record of success in recent years (a handful of major successes, a handful of minor misses, and very few big mistakes).

So stay tuned, Saints fans. The most thrilling parts of the roller-coaster ride are still to come.

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