GumboBC

Tell me what's wrong with the Saints. List the problems in order of importance.

If you were the GM, what moves would you make?

List them in order of importance!!

For Example:

1. Need new coach.
2. Need LBs.
3. Need new CB.
4. Ect, ect....

Be specific !!

Come on all you GMs out there. Let's here how you would fix our problems.

saintswhodi

First order of business, fire Haslett. He has said in an article I posted about our qb coach Mike shepperd interviewing for the Baltimore head coaching job that he does not want to change his coaching staff at all. That alone is worth firing him. He has to go.

Second order of business, move Loomis into strictly a numbers position. Absolutely no input on personnel. We pick \'em, you sign \'em should be the way any new coach or GM deals with him.

Third, hire Romeo Crennel. Weis is gone, Saban is gone. He is the best option left. One of the best defensive minds in the business and overdo for a shot. Let him bring in a GM he likes. Smooth as that ship runs in New England, he knows how to get it done.

Fourth, address the qb situation. Either decide you will try to fix Leon and get him to play every game like the Carolina game, or that you will seek a replacement. I am not saying doing anything about it immediately, but a decision has to be made so a move either way can get done, either getting him help or to work more in the offseason, seek a trade, pay more attention to qbs in the draft or whatever. Just make a decision.

Five. Make a decision on Darren Howard. I vote to try and achieve a sign and trade straight up into either the late first round so we have two firsts or an early second, or a swap with Dallas for their number one and a second for our #1 and Howard. He wants top 5 money, we can\'t afford it, Dallas can and they need a pass rusher.

Six. Address Joe Horn\'s cap number. See if he is amenable to restructuring so he will retire a Saint. We ALL love Joe, and want to see that. hopefully the organization does too.

Seven. Address Deuce\'s contract. Get him signed long term.

Eight. Upgrade lienbacker in free agency. There are a ton of good lbs in free agency this year, and we need a good veteran to team with Watson and whomever else, I would not mind Bockwoldt. Move Watson to the outside and get Edge Hartwell would be my first choice. He is a stud. If there is a chance at getting Fred Smoot, and we can afford it, do it. He is young and good. Maybe Washington will sign him and trade him to us for Howard, I have no idea. But if he is on the market, we need him.

Nine. If these needs up top are met, address BPA and the line in the draft. Jamaal Brown would be an instant upgrade at RT. I would not mind a safety though but at some point early O-line needs to be addressed. If we go o-line in the first then safety in the second, and if we have two seconds hope Ben Wilkerson is available so we can move Bentley back to guard.

Ten. 3rd round we need to draft a young qb. Jason Campbell or Alex Smith are good choices. Bouman is not the answer at backup for the long term and if we keep Leon, we need someone in the wings who can challenge him for the job, and/or play. If we have gotten another qb by some means and Leon is playing elsewhere, we can look at another position here. But if he is here, THAT has to be addressed. Also, San D. may franchise Brees this year, but they won\'t next year. It will be Rivers. If we can get through the season with Leon(if he is still here) and reevaluate him at the end, we may wanna take a shot at Brees.

I know these changes won\'t bring us a Superbowl next year, but I feel they would be huge steps in the right direction. Keeping Haslett at this point negates pretty much any and all of these other points cause he has tied himself to Leon like they are siamese twins. And his coaching staff.

Danno

If I\'m GM, the 1st thing I do is fire myself and hire a proven football guy.
But if Benson makes me stay, here\'s what I do, knowing that Haslet is not going to be fired...

Administative-
1. Fire or Re-assign Venturi. Maybe make him assistant HC if loyalty demands it. Bring in a proven DC, or a sure fire up-and-comer known for fire and discipline. Explore the feasibilty of John Pease becoming DC.

2. Fire Rick Meuller and hire a proven Director of Player Personnel or a can\'t miss up-and-coming scout and place him in charge of all scouting/drafting. He only answers to me. He can bounce his ideas off me, Haz, and anyone else all he wants, but if we draft another Sullivan, or a position we don\'t need, he\'ll get 100% of the blame.

Players-
1. IMPACT- I\'d try and get at least one impact free-agent on both sides of the ball. I\'d target SLB or a 2-gap DT on defense. On offense I\'d target a stud LT or RT.

2. QUALITY- I\'d target several quality free-agents at these positions, and pull the trigger if the price is right, I call these my B players...
A.. NT (if I didn\'t land the impact guy)
B. LB (Maybe two, any position)
C. SS/FS
D. OG, RT, LT, RB, SS, FS, TE, QB

3. DRAFT-I\'d want my scout to look obviously at defense first. All positions are fair game except DE. I\'d draft Offense only if a stud LT slips. My scout had better get a solid combo of \"Best Available and Needs\"
Approved Needs-DT, LB, RB, CB, FS, SS, QB, OG

4saintspirit

Since I do not believe Haz will be fired I will speak directly from a personnell position.

1. Sign Deuce and Horn to new contracts.
2. Sign and trade D. Howard
3. Use Howard\'s saved cap money as well as what we are currently under the cap to acquire Smoot, a top linebacker and a solid center from FA. (Move bentley back to the line after that)
4. Draft a young quarterback in the 1st round (I still think AB could be the guy so I would draft a young guy and not go after one in FA)
5. Use the remaining picks on the best available players trying to pin point OL, safeties, and linebackers.

\"I have a photographic memory -- I just don\'t have any film.\"

Danno

Reverting back to my list I made in pre-season...

http://www.blackandgold.net/site/mod...=5795#pid30514

Pretty much looks like my list now.
I think McKenzie helped the CB position, but TE turned out to a bit more troble than I originally thought.

Puddinhead

Just to point out...as it stands right now, the Saints are probably OVER the cap rather than below it. Remember, with the end of the Saints\' season, you have to count all of the players\' 2005 cap hits, not the ones from 2004. So the big back end owed Joe Horn, for example, has to be counted, rather than the $750K or whatever he played at last year. I say probably only because last night Loomis said it the same way and explained that he couldn\'t be absolute because the league hadn\'t released what the cap number was going to be for the 2005 season yet...but he was sure it wasn\'t going to go up as much as the team\'s salary figures.

If you think Brooks could be the guy, you sort of don\'t want to use your first round pick for a QB. You\'d only do that if you were convinced he could never get it done. If you just wanted \"insurance\" or someone to \"push\" him, you\'d do that with a FA QB who had starting experience. (But wasn\'t washed up....sorry, Kurt)

GumboBC

Good answers guys. Even though many of us disagree, it\'s helpful to hear everyone\'s side.

I don\'t know what all the answers are. I think many of you are on the right track.

I\'ll give my answers after we get a few more responses.

I\'m impressed with the high level of debate on this board without any flaming.

Very good work fellas !!!!!

WhoDat

I think this discussion is hard to have b/c what really needs to happen won\'t. For example, if I\'m Loomis, my first order of business: Fire all the coaches and Mueller. My second order of business, resign. But that won\'t happen.