A story from beginning to end!!
 

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...

A story from beginning to end!!
 

1. i hate the \"read and react\" system to me it stinks of \"we really don\'t have a plan\".
2.I wonder if meuller really liked being a GM-just based on some of his comments...
3. I agree I think the GM is more to fault than haslett

A story from beginning to end!!
 

Is there any documented proof Mueller amde those calls to get rid of certain players and not Haslett? I recall Haslett saying we need to get bigger up front, and out went Glover. Then we needed to be faster in the secondary and out went Sammy. I wonder if it can be shown those were Mueller\'s decisions ot the decisions he made cause of the wants of Haslett to change tactics every year? And can it also be shown Haslett didn\'t ask for the players it is being said Mueller brought in?

A story from beginning to end!!
 

I think that is the main question-who is calling the shots--who wanted to trade two first rounders to get sullivan? who decided to bring in duece and get rid of Ricky?

that is the main question which no one is answering. I do know from mueller\'s chats that he is really high on Aaron brooks...so that may have been his call.

[Edited on 9/2/2005 by baronm]

A story from beginning to end!!
 

Is there documented proof? Nope. Is there ANY documented proff that Haslett is the one who wanted some of the players we have now?

All of the moves I listed were made under Meuller\'s watch. That\'s a fact.

Who\'s to say Jim Haslett isn\'t the one who wanted Joe Horn and Deuce McAllister. Is there any documented proof that Meuller made those calls?

Either you believe Meuller had the power when he was here or he didn\'t?

A story from beginning to end!!
 

I think that that is the million dollar question-who is making the calls on personel in the big easy.

A story from beginning to end!!
 

since mueller\'s departure the personnel moves have been very similar to the team play. 2002 it was a laughingstock fold in the last three games, 2004 it was vying for the playoffs with 4 wins saving haslett\'s job. 2003 draft was among the worst in saints history, 2004 was solid if devery plays. picking deuce and letting williams go was genius. ditto turley. dale carter and the heavy lunch bunch were terrible failures. on and on. but the sum total equals the same 7-9, 9-7, 8-8, 8-8 result. it seems obvious that whoever is responsible the formula for the past 4 years is not getting to the next level. that is why i am in favor of more radical moves than tweaking by getting second or third tier free agents. make a splash, do something different. i would rather be disaapointed that it didnt work and end up at 4-12 knowing legitimate overhaul was tried in effort to get to 12-4 versus just more tinkering with the same brand of failure that results in another schizophrentic performance resulting in another lackluster record.

A story from beginning to end!!
 

The overall team attitude was really poor at that time...

Willie Roaf and Joe Horn...we all know about that one..

But also..Albert Connell....remember...he was a pretty darn good receiver...and he fisted some cash from Deuce...as a joke..supposedly...

And...what happend to Crowell...He just dissapeared without a trace....He had some potential...

Why can\'t we get a number 2 receiver?...and..why can\'t we resign our good veteran players?


Is there some sort of under the rug things that went on...something that has players afraid to play here one day past the contract?

Even McKensie held out as long as he possibly could before coming here...some of that may have been GB...

It\'s like...people are scared to play here...Why?

A story from beginning to end!!
 

Scared to play here? I think we\'ve gotten our fair share of free agents. We spent very big dollars for Dale Carter, Tebucky Jones, Wayne Gandy, Joe Horn, Ernie Conwell, Jay Bellamy, etc...

It\'s more like we\'ve made a run at the wrong free agents. Horrible scouting and overpaying down the hill free agents is our problem.

A story from beginning to end!!
 

excatly

A story from beginning to end!!
 

But...why is it we have such a problem keeping guys who can play...and have played for us...and done well...

I realize we have a cap...but..we lose nearly all of our veterans after just a few years...

And..usually..it is the guys who we need the most....

A story from beginning to end!!
 

You mean aside from direct quotes from Haslett printed in the paper? This is \"Haslett\'s team.\" It was \"his\" team when we had Big Wiggle and Gravy up-front. It was \"his\" team when they moved a successful OLB (Clemons) to the middle and then shipped him off after one bad year there. It was \"his\" team when they decided Orlando Ruff was the answer at MLB. It was \"his\" team when the team shipped off to Pro Bowl Caliber Tackles for two guys who ought to be named \"Jumpy.\"

This is \"Haslett\'s team\" - by his own words.

A story from beginning to end!!
 

Haslett finally has his \"own team\" - literally. Jerry Fontenot is the only starter (offense or defense) remaining from the Mike Ditka years.

Defensively the Saints have to prove themselves to the rest of the league. USA Today Sports Weekly, with the help of league coaches and personnel people, graded the best 25 players in the league at each position. Among inside and outside linebackers, the Saints had zero. Same thing among the corners. At the safety position newly acquired Tebucky Jones is rated as the 19th best safety.

Bottom line - I go into the 2003 season still thinking that waiting for the Saints to win the Super Bowl is akin to keeping the porch light on for Jimmy Hoffa.

---------buddy d 07/30/03

A story from beginning to end!!
 

I know Who. that\'s what I was getting at. I have posted an article a couple of times where Haslett demanded final say on personnel as part of his last contract extension.

A story from beginning to end!!
 

Since I\'m not in the \"loop\" within the Saints\' organization, all I can do is speculate. Which is all any us are doing....

If you want to say this is Haslett\'s team ... you could be right.

Or maybe Haslett is just in a tough spot?

Maybe Benson is hand-cuffing Haslett\'s when it comes to giving him the necessary cash to compete in free-agency?

Who here can say Benson is willing to spend what it takes to win in the NFL? Can we get a show of hands? I get the feeling that there isn\'t a sea of hands in the air right now...

If you want to blame someone for the debacle that is the New Orleans Saints. Blame the man at the top. Blame Tom Benson.

It wasn\'t Haslett who hired Micky Loomis. And it wasn\'t Haslett that brought you guys like Bill Kuharich and Chet Franlin when we were the laughing-stock of the NFL. No sir ... That was, you guessed it ... Tom Benson!!

Think Benson might just be looking our for himself? Having a guy whose job it is to count beans as the general manager suggests to me that Benson doesn\'t have a clue.

As for ol\' Jim ... seems he\'s in a mighty tough spot to me..

It\'s easy to blame Haslett for every problem the Saints have. It\'s also convinient.

It\'s also short-sighted, in my very humble and minority opinion... ;)

A story from beginning to end!!
 

Or you can blame the entire organization. Someone calls my office and chews my ass for 15 minutes about a project I wasn\'t involved with, I have to sit there and take it and try to calm the person as much as possible, not default to someone else. Why should Haslett be any different. He represents the Saints, because he\'s the head coach, but you\'re willing to give him a pass because you don\'t \"think\" he\'s to blame.
That\'s not how it works in the real world, Billy.

A story from beginning to end!!
 

I\'m not saying Haslett is without fault. He deserves plenty.

But he doesn\'t deserve all of it.

Do you believe Benson is willing to spend the necessary money to compete in free-agency..

I look at it like this:

1. Either Haslett doen\'t like to sign good players.
2. Benson isn\'t willing to spend the money.

If Benson isn\'t willing to spend the money, that could explain why we don\'t sign the players we need to. It makes more sense to me. And given Benson\'s past history... it makes even more sense.

And that\'s \"real world\" to me. That is ..Benson\'s \"real world.\"

A story from beginning to end!!
 

1st line of my post.