Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

THis PR stuff is rubbish
You only had to be on the board during lst years draftto see some of us were flipping out at what was going on. The same people shouting at the front office now are quiet happy with this move

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

Did we win a Super-Bowl with Graham and a bad center or without Graham and a good center? I forget... :confused:

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

Cause we traded someone who proven they can get the job done for a 31 pick that is not proven. Trading a 4th rd pick for a center when we need to replace Grubbs or Evans

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

Proven until they face a physical defender and then?

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

Nothing wrong with venting
Coach would have given this trade the green light otherwise it wouldnt have happened imho

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

Won with a offense and guards that could protect Brees and allow him to step up

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

Everyone ******* for change and then when it happens, they ***** even more... :rolleyes:

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

Poor kids! Some adults have a hard time seeing their favourite player gone and to kids its even harder to grasp.

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

Exactly my point... An O-Line who could protect and an unpredictable offense. Not trying to force the ball to Graham in triple coverage praying he catches it...

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

Fix the defense, the offense is sputtering cause they keep sacrificing it by drafting defensive players that don't pan out or trading players like Sproles now Graham whom were the 1 and 2 punch for 2013

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

We got a proven player for a proven player. We saved money, upgraded a position of need and got a first rounder. The 4th round pick is a throw in. Yeah you get lucky in later rounds sometimes, but would you rather have given up a 2nd or 3rd? And who says we have to let grubbs and evans go? They are still productive, but if we choose to move on from them because they are getting older than we'd have some cap space, and from there, we can address the matter of who replaces them. It's called one thing at a time. Did you expect us to fill every need in one trade?

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

To answer your question, no but they didn't fill a need with this trade.

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

Oh no, don't put this on payton,,,,I seen interviews where Loomis say he bump heads with choices he made and this look like one of them

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

Actually it is, you move Lelito to a starting guard and you have fixed the offensive line right there, not to mention saving a butt load of money...

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

they groom him to play center now you move him to guard, how do the kid suppose to to excel if they changing him every year

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

research man; he can play both center and guard... He pulled double duty in college... And if you forget he was drafted and filled in for Evans at guard to begin with...

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

In your opinion they didn't. In virtually everyone else's opinion, they did. We did not have a good center. Now we have one of the best. Sorry man, I don't want to make this a personal thing, but I just have rarely been involved in any discussion with someone who refuses to see anything past the end of his eye lashes.

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

Well this certainly was a shocker ... all afternoon driving around I figured B&G'd be blowing up. Good or bad, the FO's serious and if this Unger guy can stay healthy, I think it's way for the better, :).

Seattle passes approx. 30% less than New Orleans anyway, so his numbers will naturally be down ... but who knows? It might help him stay healthy and if it was Graham that Wilson was targeting instead of Lockett, they may have very well scored on that last play. The biggest thing that'll probably affect JG's play is the locker room drama that's gonna' play out (see below), :rolleyes:.

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

Great, Halo, see your back to making kids cry

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

Nice seeing my man Mike and Deuce! We need high character dudes like that

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

This is a good post bro. It is exactly what it is. I love JG, and I don't like seeing him in that seachichen gear, but we need a team. We need a 2009 type offense, and we are not getting that without fixing the oline.

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

Dude our main issues were on the interior of the line and center was by far the most needed position. Evans was hurt all year, apparently so let's do a wait and see on him, and Grubbs may end up gone, don't know. I really would love to see that big ol boy from Iowa come here, oh my I salivate at the idea.

Jimmy was injured, but maybe it was a situation where we needed a proven center, and it was a get what we can for him while we can. I am sad to see him go, love the dude, but we have more needs and as someone said, if Unger plays close to his 2013 level and is healthy (he is only 28) that will go a longer way to helping this team than keeping JG. I agree, but I could be wrong.

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

Drew 4-5 years, yes if we have a line for him.

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

OLINE is so important, so important. Great post, and Unger, from all I have read, is very good. Still young too. Good Post Hag

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

I disagree, priority was center, but yes we can use guard help too. Let's see what the rest of FA and draft bring

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

Our offense is much closer than our defense to producing well, and really just an oline away, first piece that was highly needed...center.

Mick said this was to fix the D, s I'd expect some moves to come on that side too.

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

We could be the Eagles who just let their best RB leave, their best wideout, and traded their QB for a QB who has had two acl injuries two years in a row for the Eagles 2nd, 4rth, and the rams 5th. LOL.

I like you defending your opinion amongst a group who disagrees, but thank god we're not them

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

defense is a mess and only got worse. they are not going to win us anything, bend do not break is the best we are going to get. offense is key.

as drew goes so do the saints. he can step up this year unlike the years past.

now we need a tall WR

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

good solid debate i have to admit

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

I do recall winning the SB without Graham, with a good center, and a TE on one leg. I may be wrong, though...

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

Could it be Sean|Drew know something you don't? I don't know. What I know is, the last couple years, Graham has not been exactly a deadly weapon. The injuries, the drops, and the disappearances in big games... the stats may be there, but stats only win games in fantasy football.

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

Drew's numbers are still top shelf.
Our problem is defense. we couldn't even stop a clock.
Payton's offense is plug and play, we will be OK on that side of the ball.
We have to figure out how to get our defense off the field on 3rd and 17,
how to find some corners that can actually look over their shoulder while running,
how to actually wrap-and-roll and make tackles.
There goes four(4) additional wins right there.
Graham did his job while he was here. Thank you Jimmy!
Next man step up. PLEASE.

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

I'm curious to hear from Jimmy... I'm sure he's probably livid and waiting to calm down a little.

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

Great move, total shocker, but great trade.

Drew has made Jimmy and he will make the next big body TE look just as good.

Man I hate it was Seattle though. On the other hand, I may be glad it was Seattle if we get to play them in the NFCCG, because we all no know Jimmy tends to disappear in the big ones.

Thanks for the time Jimmy and good luck.

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

Nothing. For the short term by adding Unger, the interior O-line now has in Lelito a solid backup for all three guard/center positions.

Unger (when healthy) is a proven All-Pro center. If he works out, it's definitely an upgrade.
There's an age difference. Goodwin was a probowl center during his first stint with us. He was a shell of his former self last year. Unger is younger and his best year was just two years ago.Folks keep making the mistake of comparing last year (2013) to this year (2014). After the 2013 season JG was coming off an All-Pro year where he scored the most TD in the league. There was some question then because of the foot injury, but short of getting the 2 first round picks, there was little the team could do but make a deal on the contract and hope that Graham's production would match it.

In 2014 it didn't happen. JG busted his shoulder and ended up spending a lot of time on decoy duty. Even though it was 85 catches, nearly 1000 yards, and 9 TDs, it wasn't production that matched the previous 2 years, or production that matched the contract. Also it was clear when JG wasn't available that other parts of the offense functioned pretty well.

In short JG was a much better player after the 2013 season than he was after the 2014 season. So the trade value would have to be higher when he was tagged. And clearly, no one wanted to pay the price that would both add sufficient value to the team, and wouldn't make the Saints looks like fools. There's an old saying "No one ever gets fired for buying IBM." That was the case with JG after the 2013 season. Anything short of two first round picks would have been a bust for the Saints.

SFIAH

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

Mickey Loomis on Graham trade: We have to improve on defense | ProFootballTalk

“We’ve had a good offensive team for a number of years. We’ve been able to finish in the top four or five in offense in eight of the last nine years. We do well on that side of the ball, but we’ve got to get better on defense. There are three ways to get players in our league. That’s through free agency, it’s through the draft and then trades. We believe in using all avenues. We took one of our assets and turned it into some resources that we can hopefully improve our defense with.”

This sums up exactly why we did this. It may not be popular with some people and that's understandable but tough choices have to be made and our defensive woes are obvious.

Re: Saints Trade Graham to the Seahawks
 

The last two will be franchised. The first two will most likely sign long term deals between now and the start of training camp.

Just as we had to do last year with JG, their respective teams will do whatever it takes to keep their players.

They are not going to get into the free agent market.

Also as always I have to throw my two cents in about what I view as playing fantasy football. In the 5 years that JG was with the Saints, Brees has thrown for 25387 yards, 2450 completions, and 194 TDs in the regular season. Graham has caught 4700+ yards, 386 receptions and 51 TDs during that span. That means that over 20000 yards, 2100 receptions, and nearly 150 TDs have been thrown by Brees to someone other than Graham in the last 5 years. So why is there the instant thought process that without Graham that suddenly the offense is going to stop producing?

In the last 9 years the Saints have had a top offense virtually each and every year, with or without Graham. There's no reason to think this will not continue.

So instead of playing fantasy football, why not focus on the true problems. That would be defense, special teams, and O-line (mostly from the health perspective)?

SFIAH