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The Big 2014 Changes thread (Non Draft)
Changes need to come to how we presently look and function. I will start with a few of mine. They are hard and ugly but as mentioned by exile great teams know when to trim the fat and let go of the declining players.
There was a youth movement on Defense and you see how that panned out. Play Book Our offensive playbook need to be burnt, ashes folded into a nice custard, consumed, and then burn the waste. It is no longer needed, our entire team knows it by heart because it is what we have used for years, defenses know it by heart also. It doesn't work any more and everyone from the newest fan, to expert talking heads, to Sean Payton him self said we need to be less predictable... If you want to be less predictable, do something different. Special teams Greg McMahon - Needs to go.. He is not covering the fundamentals. - Unprepared for at least 1 onsides kick (unacceptable) - Laces in for a playoff FG kick (unacceptable) - 2nd last in KO return yards and 4th last in PR yards, this directly translated to starting field position for our offense. 2013 NFL Team Returning Stats - National Football League - ESPN Running Backs Sproles - Time to Find or allow a replacement. Championship teams know when to hold-em and when to fold-em. I love Sproles but he is no longer as elusive, he allowed two punts to roll back to within the 5 yard line that I saw, and he gets tripped by index fingers and tall grass. PT - I am on the fence about PT. Another that I love but love doesn't bring Championships. 2013 saw him tied for the most rushing attempts in his career (he had 147 in 2009 also), but his YPC has dropped nearly a yard and until this year has never been less than 4 YPC. His receptions were at an all time high but his YPC was at an all time low and he is not a receiver. Jed Collins - We need more of a hybrid or more of a bruiser. Travaris Cadet - Does nothing. Wasted spot and we do not need a 5th RB. Dead Weight Will Smith - Eat the dead money. Victor Butler - No idea about him, keep and hope or find someone we know? Free Agents we let walk Jenkins - Bye Vilma - So long Strief - Bye DLP - Bye Charles Brown - Bye Meachem - Slow Jed Collins - Sort of borderline on him Haralson - Second season ending injury in 3 years Unlike others I have looked at the financials also, dead money figured into savings. Smith - saves us 11M I am sure we can find 1 RB to replace these two for less than 6.4M. Sproles - Saves us 3.5M P Thomas - 2.9M Lance Moore - 2.8m (I love Lance as well but for that we can find younger = talent) Nick Toon 400k All I can think of right now. I focused mainly on offense because it seems that is where we find our selves wearing our favorite shoes and not getting into the dance. Overall we have netted 21M to replace these players with. |
Re: The Big 2014 Changes thread (Non Draft)
Remember we are about 12 mil over the cap so the Smith cut gets us to even. Then we need to resign JG Bush and a few others. I agree with the RB cuts but more cuts are needed and Brees needs to restructure.
We have more cap issues this year than ever before... some tough cuts will be made. |
Re: The Big 2014 Changes thread (Non Draft)
Good post. I wouldn't have too much of a problem with this if all of it was done. I will say I think Charles brown would be good to retain as a backup if possible. Victor butler is going to get his shot this year. He better hope he stays healthy. Also, I thought Haralson was a good addition considering the late pick we gave up for him. I truly feel bad for the guys when an injury threatens their career, but I understand it's a business. Geauxsaints!
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That 22M I mentioned includes Smith going, and as far as the 2014 Cap, the figures are not out yet and we will have 1.6M carry over from 2013. Keep in mind you do not want to start the 2014 season with than less than 3.5-4m in Cap Space. You have injuries to deal with and a practice squad to sign as well. |
Re: The Big 2014 Changes thread (Non Draft)
Excellent post, and I'm so glad you didn't make it into some ghey poll.
We have a FB on the practice squad (Austin Johnson) that looks like a viable replacemnt for Collins. He looked great running last preseason and now with a year under his belt he could be our FB/RB hybrid we need. I'd prefer to keep Butler. He wasn't that expensive and at the very worst would be fantastic depth. I'd guess he's like a younger faster version of Haralson. I think Strief returns at a reasonable price. He's one of the better starting RT's in the league. It'll depend on what he's asking. If we do let Sproles go I'd like to keep Cadet another year. He has Sproles-like skillset and given some more playing time he might prove worthy, and he's dirt cheap. Traing camp and pre-season will decide his fate. The bottom line is we're going to release some very popular players. Its not gonna be fun. |
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Gotta let Smith and Harper walk, maybe even Sproles too. I don't think he provides the mismatch we hope for on offense anymore. Its time Ingram and Robinson get in the passing game, so that we could release PT as well (hate to say it, but these are all high calibre guys).
Gotte keep Brown (O-Line players are injured a lot) and Butler...we gotta see what he's capable of. If nothin else is available, we keep Strief. Our O-Line needs to get nasty for running game to work. And we need to get more skill players...younger skill players. Playbook indeed needs to be obliterated!!! |
Re: The Big 2014 Changes thread (Non Draft)
Having a look at this bwhile pretending to work.
Keep QB Brees 18.4 Griffin 0.495 RB Ingram 2.4 Robinson 0.495 WR Colston 8.3 (cut in 2015/16 for savings off 4.3/7.8 after dead money) Stills 0.540 Toon 0.671 TE Hill 0.495 Watson 1.7 O-Line Evans 11 (cuts restructure next year saving 6ml after dead money in 2015) Grubbs 9.1 (cuts restructure next year saving 3.6/7.3ml after dead money in 2015/16) Armstead 0.68 Lelito 0.495 Drescher 0.875 P Moorstead 3.3 Dead Money Moore 2.5 Sproles 0.75 Thomas 0 Breakdown per position QB 18.895ml RB 2.895 WR 9.511 TE 2.195 OL 22.151 P 3.3 Dead 3.3ml Total $62ml Would be in need of a starting RT, C and WR/TE as well as depth. Defense DB K Lewis 4.5 Vaccaro 2.1 C White 0.614 Peterson 2.39 DL Bunkley 6.1 Jordan 2.4 Hicks 0.718 J Jenkins 0.656 Foster 0.497 Walker 0.571 LB Lofton 5.2 Hawthorne 3.5 Galette 2.9 Butler 1.8 Reddick 0.496 R Johnson 0.420 Cuts Dead money W Smith DM 2.35 J Greer DM 2.65 (save 3.175ml) R Harper DM 3.69 (save 2.1) Totals DB $9.604 LB $ 14.316 DL $10.942 Dead 8.69 Defense $43.552 Offense $63ml Total 106.5ml Leaves around $20ml to resign players on tenders/contracts etc and FA/draft. Id take Greer, Moore one of Harper/Jenkins for the right money. Not as bad as the media have made it out to be. A fee figures could be off as m working and Moore, Sproles could even be traded. |
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Re: The Big 2014 Changes thread (Non Draft)
This will happen.
1. We release Jimmy "Field Goal Bender" Graham and sign Aaron "I'll be out soon" Hernandez to a future contract. 2. Release Sproles, PT, Robinson and Ingram. Rely on pass only offense. Out of the box thinking. 3. Trade Brees to Houston and draft Johnny Football to run the offense. 4. Move Rob Ryan to O-Line coach to teach them some toughness. 5. Quit trying FGs so no need to sign Shayne. Hey, you did say BIG changes... :mrgreen: |
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I am on the fence about Ingram and it is not so much to do with past years or earlier this season. He has preformed well sinc3e the BYE week.
A huge part of the reason we gave 6 "rock toaters" on the roster is because of injury. Ingram has recurring plantar fasciitis (Turf Toe). It pulled him out of the line up in 2011 and 2013. I trust mark Ingram more than I trust his foot, and if we are going to carry depth as deep as we do, it shouldn't be at RB. |
Re: The Big 2014 Changes thread (Non Draft)
Turn our O into a potent ground and pound team, beef up the O-line let Robinson, Ingram tote the rock, let Graham walk and get a TE like Dallas Clark type to take his place (you would never know Graham was gone), get a speedster in to go with Stills and one to take Moores place and let Brees manage the game. I love the circus high-wire passing attack when it worked but it aint' there no more., time for sound, hard-nose football,it has endless possibilities with Brees at the helm and would keep him up-right the majority of the time.
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Sorry meant Robinson, brain fart or auto correct im not sure.Id swap him for Patrick Peterson mind you
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Re: The Big 2014 Changes thread (Non Draft)
QB-Restructure Brees, promote Griffin to #2, say goodbye to McCown
RB-I agree with letting Sproles go. I would also let Ingram go, nothing against him or his performance but his contract is too much for a relatively one-dimensional back. We should be able to get good value for both guys in trades. I would keep Thomas, Robinson and draft Jeremy Hill or somebody like him (and I'm no LSU fan but that guy is a freaking stud). Cadet can go as well, he's been a waste of a roster spot. FB-keep Collins WR-Let Moore go, love the guy, he costs too much and Stills is the same player but younger and cheaper. Meachem is fairly dependable, a good blocker and cheap. Keep Colston/Stills/Meachem/Toon/Morgan. If Joe Morgan can still play he's in the mix for a big role. I also think we might see Tanner making moves, he could contribute as a slot guy and would not be any kind of downgrade from Moore this year. Colston's knees are the big question mark to me here. If he is 100% we are good to go here. TE-Sign Graham long-term, keep Watson he's good. Hill should have a bigger role, he looks like a good young player. OL-Restructure Grubbs, he is not worth 1/3 of his salary. Draft a center to compete with DLP. Otherwise keep everything about the same in the starting 5. Brown may not have cut it as a starter but he is good cheap depth and can play either tackle. Harris and Lelito also look like good depth guys. Our OL struggles this year had nothing to do with lack of talent, they had to do with new coach/new scheme and facing an inordinate amount of really good defensive lines. Don't overreact. We have good guys on the OL. DL-Looks good, keep the same guys, maybe draft a pass rush type another in the Foster/Walker mold and let T. Johnson go. LB-Hawthorne/Lofton are great run defenders but lack a little bit of speed sideline to sideline. But I'm not sure this is a position you want to get too gung-ho about "upgrading" because you might end up regretting it. Humber and Reddick need more playing time IMO. Galette/Haralson/Butler should be a fine rotation on the outside. CB-Let Greer go, love him but see Lance Moore situation. Lewis/Robinson/White is a fine starting point, draft a couple young guys and see who turns out. We could use a true nickel/slot guy in the Greer mold, somebody who is more agile and quick to cover those little squirt receivers that give us trouble sometimes. S-Keep either Harper or Jenkins, let the other go. Bush and Vaccaro are your starters. We could also see White in the mix at safety but that would necessitate finding another corner. ST-Keep Graham for another year, he's fine. Need changes on STs in general when it comes to kicking and returns. Coverage teams are pretty much OK, could use a little more youth/speed though. In summary basically I don't think we need much change. We need Brees to get his act together and be in top form next year. We need some young guys to continue developing and take on bigger roles. And we need to shake some thing up on offense, that means work on schemes and playbooks, not necessarily blowing it up personnel wise. Money-wise, I looked at the numbers a few weeks back and we're in OK shape with the Smith cut and Brees restructure. A few more moves (Greer, Moore, Sproles, restructuring of a couple more big deals) gives us plenty of wiggle room to re-sign Graham and others and maybe even look at some outside free agents. Not worried about cap room, it's not even an issue. |
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Greer and Jenkins can both go, agreed. Now after reading you are keeping as much depth as we have starters? As I read your reply we will have Grubbs, DLP, +1 C, Brown, Harris, Lelito, Evans, Strief, Armstead, Nsekhe... Thats 10 offensive linemen, we only carried 8 this year. No one in the organization has any leverage what so ever to force a restructure on Brees. I wouldn't factor it in to any equation, if it happens fine but there is nothing that can be done if he doesn't agree. |
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We should also keep in mine that we have 3 players already signed to 2014.
Derrius Brooks CB Derek Dimke Place Kicker Nsekhe, Ty OT |
Re: The Big 2014 Changes thread (Non Draft)
Unless we feel 2014 is our last shot for a superbowl with Brees, this isn't the year he restructures. 2015 and 2016 is when he kills the cap. He needs to stay the same 2014 and restructure 2015. What we really need is upgrade at C and WR that will go over the middle and take a hit like Colston. Let Smith go and restructure a few others like Bunkley, Grubbs and Evans. RB's stay like they are, I believe Sproles is still suffering from his concussion which has made him a little tentative on returns. PT is still our best screen back. Ingram, Cadet and Robinson have all dropped potential big plays in the screen game. Meachem still has speed and great concentration on the football, he beat 2 guys in coverage and caught the tipped ball. I believe he stays at a reasonable price. Playcalling does need an overhaul.
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We didn't have any success in passing until the 4th Qtr... Seattle went to prevent defense.
This one? |
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Brees is certainly under no obligation to restructure, but he doesn't really have any reason not to. Brady did it this past year, all it really does is convert his base salary into signing bonus so he gets paid all at once instead of individual game checks. What a burden...LOL |
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Something changed about their defense in the 4th qtr... Unless we just took 3 qtrs to figure out how to pass on it. |
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Time to drop'em and move onto next year. Cause our window has begun to close now to take another championship home.
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Its kind of time to start building a fresh, young roster. As long as we can put together a better offensive line, meaning we let Strief and DLP walk, while upgrading our receiving core we'll be fine. I'd trade Jimmy Graham for an AJ Green or Dez Bryant in a minute. Hell, I'd trade him for Crabtree, Boldin, or Vernon Davis. We need some speed at every spot.
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Re: The Big 2014 Changes thread (Non Draft)
Everybody talks "window", like once Brees retires we automatically revert to a 1-15 team... :rolleyes:
The way I see it, we are steadily getting younger and you never know who plays QB after Brees... Ryan Griffin may be better than Drew for all we know... |
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Something needs to be done with Harper. So whether he takes a paycut or we cut him it needs to happen. He wasn't as historically bad this season as he was in years pass with regards to giving up big plays but a lot of that had to do with Vaccaro being back there and the fact he missed some games this year.
I would love to see what d'anthony thomas out of oregon could do in sproles place. Not to mention I have my eyes on jarvis landry and odell beckum. Beckum has the speed but landry has some of the sickest hands I've seen in college or pros. I hope they are at least on payton's offensive wishlist. |
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I do however disagree with burning the entire playbook. I think a committed effort to RUN THE DANG BALL would do WONDERS for our playbook. Frankly I think that's what Sean means about being less predictable. We need to have the ability to run when Jimmy is in the game. We need to have the ability to run when either PT, Khiry, or Mark is lined up. We are too predictable based on our offensive packages. At least that's my armchair opinion, which is all I have to offer. I think if we make a concerned effort to get some people who truly excel on the offensive line so many of our problems go away. The ceiling is "cathedral" for our defense. I'm very excited about next season already. |
Re: The Big 2014 Changes thread (Non Draft)
Here's to those who wants to talk about Brees' replacement.
http://www.salut.lm.lt/images/piesineliai/salut.gif |
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I don't think the plays are the problem as much as the predictability of the play calls. Like you said, if we have success running the ball the opposing teams can't just sit back in soft zones and nickel defenses waiting for that inevitable mistake. |
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Too many times did I see delay of games and wasted timeouts because of late substitutions, late play calls and brees spending 15 seconds to move players around. Simplify and execute. |
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I think it's entirely possible that we might have a tell, on the screen plays in particular, that tips people off -- a signal, even beyond just being ridiculously overly predictable in when we call them. It could be something as simple as a lineman tilting his weight to one side, a certain guy leaving the huddle first when a screen is called, or a chin strap unbuckled. Because this year our screens have just been completely BLOWN UP, by almost everybody, except the absolute weakest, worst teams, where they still seem to work. But against anybody good, there's just been nothing there all year -- it's like they know the play is coming, especially against Seattle.
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Philly runs out the clock faster than we attempt a comeback ... Brees wasted at least 8 Minutes letting the clock hit 1 every darn play throughout the game ... Can you imagine what could've happened with 8 extra minutes just as the tide was turning out way ? Why give the defense extra time ? That's like fighting mike Tyson and allowing him to cock back
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Heck in fact the only time we were able to move the ball effectively was during the hurry up ! Sean Payton can really take a page from chip Kelly
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The adverse puts our defense on the field 8 extra minutes. No thanks. |
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