B_Dub_Saint

My thoughts exactly.

Rugby Saint II

I get so emotional this time of year.......

B_Dub_Saint

I get so emotional when Im on my man period.

biloxi-indian

Tough decisions? If my memory serves me, Loomis has said on numerous occasions the Saints expect a 20-25% roster turnover YOY. That is 10-13 players.

IMHO, the beginning of the "tough decisions";

Smith
Vilma
Greer
Harper
Thomas
Moore
Herring
Strief
Brown
McCown
Coleman

voodooido

Greer will stay with a pay cut. He is getting old and wants that ring. Brown may resign for league avg and move to the right side. Herring will resign for league min. The rest are pretty much gone. I would love to see Moore and PT stay but they are not worth their pay.

biloxi-indian

First four. Check. Not being cavalier as these four B&G stalwarts contributed greatly in the past, it is just Father Time has caught up. As has been said on numerous occasions...this is a business.

What I find unsettling is if you listen to Greer he was completely surprised by his release. One would think Loomis would have provided the courtesy of a one hour notice.

Also, Smith, Greer, and Harper contracts were terminated or cut. Vilma will not be resigned not cut.

Next up.

biloxi-indian

The list is getting shorter. Add Sproles.

Jack Vegas

If we have learned anything over the last few years it's that the cap situation is never really a big issue when it comes to fielding a good team.

I like Greer, Moore, PT and anybody else that is likely to leave or get cut but it is not likely that losing those players in favor of younger/cheaper replacements is going to cripple the team. The Steelers, Patriots and other well-run teams have done it for years and years and are still always contenders. And we draft as well as anybody else in the league.

Since the Super Bowl, we have moved on from/lost:

Shockey
Fujita
Bush
Nicks
Stinchcomb
Goodwin
Bushrod
Henderson
Sharper
Porter
Ellis
Hargrove
C. Grant

and we have essentially moved on from Vilma and Will Smith as well. And I'm missing some more I am sure. That's a lot of key players and still we've had double-digit wins and been to the playoffs 3 out of the last 4 years.

Whatever happens we will be fine. What's the worst thing that could happen? We lose Graham? If I recall we won a Super Bowl with some very average tight ends and a WR group that was not significantly better than what we have now.

hagan714

i do not think it will be a hard as people are thinking. no way does he get top dollar in the TE market. he does not deserve it just yet. so tag him. he deserves that kind of cash.

he is only a couple of Mickey Lommis creative contracts away from being a done deal. tagged and done. next issue

any players lost will need to be replaced via the draft. that the real issue and the saints will need to draft extremely well this year

Jack Vegas

I also think that we as fans have to accept there's a ton of stuff we don't understand about the workings of the salary cap and the loopholes that are exploited by every team. The last few years we kept just about everybody of significance and signed high-level free agents like Grubbs, Lofton, Hawthorne, K. Lewis when everybody thought we didn't even have enough money to sign the rookie draft class. So I say we just sit back and watch Loomis do his thing.