GumboBC

In 2000 Tom Benson hired a relatively unknown Randy Meuller to be the GM of the New Orleans Saints.

Meuller was coming to an organization that was one of the worst in the NFL. The prior year before Meuller's arrival -- the Saints finished a disappointing 3-13. And Mike Ditka was subsequently fired.

Ditka really left the team void of talent in MANY areas. Giving up an entire draft for one player, Ricky Williams, was only one reason for the utter lack of talent.

Left over from the Ditka era were QB's Billy Joe Holbert, Billy Joe Tolliver and Danny Wuerful. And the receivers were a bunch of cast-offs that really had no business starting.

The offense was in terrible shape. But there were some very good players at positions other than the "skilled" position spots.

The offensive line had such players as Willy Roaf, Kyle Turley, and Jerry Fontenot.

Then at running back there was Ricky Williams....

Two of those players, Ricky Williams and Kyle Turley, proved to be "basket" cases and were shipped off to other teams.

Wilie Roaf was also shipped to Kansas City, for reasons that have been well documented. It seemed Roaf didn't want to play on the same team as Joe Horn. That's the rumor, anyway!!

The Defense was in okay shape on Meuller's arrival. There were players such as Le Roi Glover, Joe Johnson, and Sammy Knight. Other than that, MOST of the defensive players were serviceable....

Besides Sammy Knight, the rest of the secondary was in need of a major overhaul. And the linebacker corp. need an upgrade aslo.

Even with the glaring weakness on the defense, Ron Zook was able to get this group to play very well with his aggressive blitzing schemes. The defense even led the NFL in sacks in 2000.

But it was obvious in the 2000 playoff game against the Vikings that this unit simply had too many holes to overcome by "scheming" their way out of it...

All in all, Meuller had his work cut out for him if he wanted to build a winner in the Big Easy..

But, Meuller was aggressive from the start.

He hired Jim Haslett as the head coach. Brought in guys on offense such as Joe Horn, Jeff Blake, Aaron Brooks and drafted Deuce McAllister.

But with the departure of Wille Roaf and Kyle Turley, the offensive line was beginning it's march towards what we have today!!

Then there was the changes Meuller made on the defense. He shipped Le Roi Glover off. Refused to sign Joe Johnson to a big contact. And thought we needed more speed that what Sammy Knight brought to the table at the saftety postion.

Then Ron Zook left and the defense became one of the worst in the NFL.

Looking back, many mistakes were made under Meuller.


Who knows how Meuller would have gone about fixing those problems as he was subsequently fired by Tom Benson for reasons still unknown to this day.

I wish I knew WHY Meuller was fired. Meuller is still not employeed in the NFL to this day. Seems strange to me...


But, that was the Meuller era.


What has happened since that time is Jim Haslett was left with no real GM and I'm not sure who's been calling the shots as far as bringing in players.

Granted, there was still a lot of work to do once Meuller was fired. But, there hasn't been much that's been fixed.

Haslett has tried all kind of players at certain weak spots.

Grady Jackson, Norman Hand, Jonathan Sullivan, and Brian Young were brought in to fill the gaping hole at DT.

Sammy Knight was replaced by Tebucky Jones.

Many linebackers have been brought in to try and fix an already weak area.

Many cornerbacks were brought in to try and fix an already weak seconday.

It's been 4 long years without the playoffs. Many personnel mistakes have been made.

The defensive coordiantor spot has been a failure with the read and react Venturi system.

The offense has been up and down. Most of the reason I believe has to do with the offensive line.

As I sit here today and evaluate the 2005 Saints, I see a team that is far and away better than the team Meuller and Haslett took over. And it appears that if a "few" holes are addressed this offseason that this team might finally be able to compete.

That is ..... if you think this coaching staff can win with good players...