Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

It’s hard to gain confidence from your teammates when they can tell you aren’t confident in yourself.”

It can’t be faked. The other faces in the huddle can see through you — especially at quarterback. It’s almost impossible to find success when the players looking to you to lead hear you bumbling through play calls or see your head spinning.

“If they look at you and you’re not really confident about what you’re doing, then they’re not going to be confident in what they’re doing and they’re not going to be confident in you,” Saints backup quarterback Luke McCown said.

That’s where Garrett Grayson was at this time last season. He struggled calling the plays. The playbook was still new to him. Things were happening faster than he could process them. It was rough.

In other words, he was enduring the bumps and bruises that rookies are expected to endure. Still, that didn’t make it easy. But after spending a year in the classroom and learning under McCown and Drew Brees, Grayson has returned to the Saints a more confident player.

His head isn’t spinning. He understands what he’s supposed to be doing. He’s confident in the huddle. He’s ready to take charge of whatever group of players he’s leading during practices.

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”I want to take command of the guys,” Grayson said. ”That was something I don’t know if I necessarily know if I did the right way late year because I didn’t really know the offense that well. I don’t want to say I was timid, but I wasn’t really commanding guys like you should.”

It took Grayson a while to get to that point. He wasn’t there the last time anyone outside of the organization saw him on the field. Even last preseason, when he completed half of his passes for 334 yards with zero touchdowns and a pair of picks, he was still trying to figure things out.

It wasn’t until about the midway point last season that he started feeling confident with the system, and he continued to work at it throughout the offseason. He said each day he’d pick a play, concept or defense and spend a day dissecting it until he understood everything about it.

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Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

Well there you have it. Someone actually working to become better at football. What a concept. You guys get paid a lot of money so should be confident as hell all the time. lol

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

If Brees starts wanting multi millions again when we need to start thinking of the future then I wouldn't be angry at Grayson being given a shot.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

It sounds as if you have no issue with having a crappy product on the field for the sake of money that isn't coming out of your pocket. As a fan you, and I, have not got any clue as to the value of players. The fixation on what individual players get paid is pointless. As fans we should want the very best players on the field. Who the hell cares what the man's check looks like? I want to know that he has the ability to make my team as good as it can be. Brees could decline for the next five years and still most likely be a better option than Grayson five years from now.

With the way the cap is exploding due to increasing revenue streams and with all of the dead cap rolling off the Saints books following this season money is not an issue. That said, why in the hell should it EVER be an issue for the fan? Don't forget, we are ignorant in the scheme of things. Some more ignorant than others.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

I got a good feeling about Greyson. Payton is pretty much a qb guru and if he would feel that Greyson could lead the Saints so be it. It wasn't very pretty at first when Rodgers took over in Green Bay but they got their franchise qb. If Greyson is ready by next season I couldn't see a big contract given to Brees. Your right about the future.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

Brees is my all time favourite Saint and I love the guy for what he's done for our team.

However, nobody and I mean nobody is bigger than the team, Brees is the best shot we have at winning, but he can't hold the team to ransom every time a contract comes up, our failures in other areas become more apparent and they need to be addressed.

The way the last contract dispute went on was ludicrous, especially considering Brees knew we were without Payton for the whole year and still chose to be play hard ball.

Two year extension somewhere around 20 mil a year would be about right for me, he has to accept that the defense needs upgrading because we don't have a guy coaching the defense with the plug and play capacity as Sean Payton does for the offense.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

Brees has NEVER held the team to ransom. Where the heck are you getting that idea? He originally signed a 6 year $60M contract which even at the time was low. His next, and last, deal was for five years at $20M per year which very quickly became no more than average for the average starter in the league.

And it appears that you have no clue what that whole last contract year was all about. It has been explained on this site by myself and others dozens of times. The entire ordeal had nothing whatsoever to do with the contract terms. It all came down to the NFLPA and the league fighting over the definition of a second franchise tag. Brees was simply the Guinea pig in the case. Within one week after the case was resolved Brees was signed. It had nothing to do with his playing any sort of hardball. He got what he deserved and no more.

And it does not matter in the least what kind of deal sounds right to you. You are not involved and have nowhere near enough knowledge on the financial or personnel related issue as to when, why or what will eventually take place. NONE of us do. You have clearly been brainwashed as to the importance of any single contract on the ability of a franchise to make other deals by the media, of whom I can testify personally are infinitely less qualified in matters of finance than your average middle income individual, or by other fans who rely upon what that media feeds them.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

What gives you a good feeling about Grayson? He isn't even good enough to win the back-up job. Comparing him to Rodgers is silly. Coming out of college it was clear that Rodgers had far more potential than Grayson had ever shown. Rodgers was highly touted and drafted to be the eventual starter and was the back-up to Favre from day one. Grayson is, and has has never been more than, the token QB picked up with the hope that one day they may be able to elevate to a position of back-up. He has no more going for him than any other #3 QB the Saints have entertained since Brees took the helm.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

So I give my opinion, none of it being harsh or anyway rude towards you and what do you do?

You come back with a message filled with self satisfaction and make it verbally abusive to the point where now I "don't have clue" what I'm talking about.

Congratulations buddy, hope being a keyboard warrior makes you feel powerful.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

Yes, you gave your opinion on what you think is fair, be what it may, but this little tidbit it where I have the issue ...

No player has any obligation to willingly get paid far below market value solely because of some misconception that it is their fault the franchise has continuously made bad decisions on the defensive side of the ball both through the draft and through free agency. The are a handful of members around here who readily tend to place the blame on the best player our franchise has ever seen and to this day still remains our best chance to return to the Super Bowl anytime within the foreseeable future.

I repeat what I said, you do not have a clue. None of us have a clue, but to misguidedly place blame where it clearly does not belong is ridiculous.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

Oh, and one more thing I need to repeat. Brees has NEVER held the team to ransom as you blatantly stated. What do you have to say about that? Well?

:confused:

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

Carl Nick's had the right be payed as the best guard in the league as he was at that point, Brees counter offered several of the teams offers making it impossible to pay Carl Nicks what he deserved.

We replaced him with Ben Grubbs which was nowhere near the same talent level as the one we had just lost.

You should work on your people skills, I've read several users saying you undermine their opinions and frankly I feel the same way.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

Once again, where do you get the idea that the Brees deal had anything whatsoever to do with not stepping up to what Nicks was demanding? The way the cap can be manipulated by someone with Loomis' expertise they could have easily paid Nicks what he was demanding. Has it ever occurred to you that it was Nicks that was attempting to hold the Saints ransom? By definition that is exactly what he was doing. Why should the Saints feel they should have to pay him more than they thought he was worth?

I'll answer my first question for you. You read that it was Brees' fault that Nicks wasn't signed, right? You read it from other members that claimed the same, right? To blame this on Brees, far and away the most valuable player on the roster, for getting what turned out to be no more than an average sized contract is totally misguided. I repeat. You do not have a clue. That is not an insult. It is a simple statement of fact.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

In all fairness, I'd take your posts seriously if they weren't delivered in the way that they are. There's no need to undermine people and their opinions, as well as verbally attacking them for their opinions.

Anyway I'm done with the disagreement.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

Okay, this just finally jumped out at me. Where did you get the idea that Brees counter offered, or even openly refused, any of the Saints offers? First of all, what difference does it make if there were counter offers? That is the definition of negotiating. And even if there were, how would that in anyway prevent the Saints from knuckling under to the demands of Nicks' agent? And were you in the room while that negotiating was taking place, or did you once again base it all on presumptuous articles by media members and other fans following the media lemmings over the cliff?

Are you getting the theme of this conversation?

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

Read the last message I posted which said that your posts aren't taken seriously and I'm done with the disagreement, as I don't respect the way you speak to people.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

I would gladly accept your opinion if it truly was your opinion. What I am hearing are old excuses based upon no supporting fact whatsoever which have been circulated by hacks upon which you claim you are basing your opinion. All I am asking is instead of being one of the lemmings, try looking at things logically.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

And perhaps you can understand the way all of the others of us do not respect the constant denigration of Brees. It is a two way street, buddy.

And I would have loved to have read your answers to the questions I asked in the post to this response.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

I want to see how he handles himself running the offense in the preseason. Preferably against a #1 defense at some point.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

Thats not how I remembered it at all.

We could have franchised Nicks and kept him here, but since a deal wasn't done with Brees we had to franchise Brees and were then unable to keep Nicks.

We also offered "nearly" the same money as Tampa did, but he left for a few dollars more.

I love me some Drew Brees, but his (Condon's) prolonged negotiations cost us Carl Nicks.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

For what that is worth. In the preseason you never know what is being worked on by either squad. As fans we can never get a true read. Hopefully whatever we go with as a back-up is not needed for the next four or more years.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

When he was drafted everyone, and I mean everyone, knew he was a 2 or 3 year NFL project.

I'm surprised that so many gave up on him after 1 season.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

Once again, it was not the negotiations that took so long. It was the final determination of the franchise tag ruling which strung it all out. That is what had everything stalled. The Saints could have paid Nicks whatever he wanted but clearly felt his demands were too high. I love how people blame Brees for being greedy while he was simply taking one for his union and nobody blames Nicks for truly being greedy by insisting on being the highest paid guard in the league.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

That is a two or three year project to be a back-up.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

I don't think so, because all that happened after we franchised Brees, who refused to negotiate the previous year even though the Saints wanted to.

Drew (or Condon) decided to play out his contract instead of negotiating a new deal. It absolutely cost us Carl Nicks since we could have forced him to remain a Saint under the tag, or we could have had a more concrete figure in mind to keep him.

We decided it was more important to pay Brees whatever it was going to take than to over-pay for Nicks and risk losing Brees.

So we franchised Brees, lost Nicks and then went to war over the tag issue.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

I'm in total agreement with you sir. I believe Guido has an accounting background and looks at things from a different perspective. While we see a team ham strung by a QB who is a future HOF'er Guido sees a man leading a franchise at a fair rate. If the FO were perfect and every draft pick and free agency move paid off we could afford to pay Drew what he deserves. But we are restricted by the cap even though it is ever expanding.

Drew played his first contract on a prove it deal and he proved he was worth every penny on his second contract. I'm still bothered that he would hold out during the whole bounty gate thing when the team was in disarray and needed a leader. I guess Drew needed money more. Remember Drew chose Tom Condon, who plays high priced hard ball, to represent him so he could sit back and say let's get a deal done.

On the flip side Drew didn't write the contracts that are heavily loaded at the end of the contract. That is Mickey Loomis' doing.

I love Drew and I always will hold him above mere mortals. He took us from obscurity to a Lombardi. He is the face of the franchise and is well recognized nationally as the Saints beloved leader. He represents and epitomizes clean living and success. I love him. But, I am disappointed that he is not a team first guy until he gets paid.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

No, Brees wasn't franchised because he was refusing to negotiate that previous season, he was franchised because the Saints were at the time unwilling to pay his what he was worth and he didn't want to have any negotiations taking place during the season. His play during that season proved his worth. Once the season was over was when the NFLPA came into play and asked Brees to hold out for the tag to be applied so they could challenge the league.

But regardless, losing Carl Nicks was not the reason the Saints have not been back. The problem has been and remains to be the defense. Having or not having Nicks is way overplayed.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

Thats speculation. It was reported on several sites that the Saints offer would have made him the highest paid QB of all time. Drew decided to play out his contract instead.

Agreed Nicks wasn't our downfall, but there was a significant drop-off from Nicks to Grubbs.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

Once again, Brees did not hold out for more money during that off-season. He was going to get paid regardless. It is the fact that Brees IS a team player that things lasted as long as they did. He refused to sign the franchise tag on request from the NFLPA until a ruling could be made on its definition. He did it for the sake of every other player in the league. He signed the contract immediately as soon as that ruling was made.

In case you don't remember Brees was working out that whole off-season with members of his offense in San Diego without being under contract. How is that not being team first? How can you be so unfair?

And why should any player ever put a team before his financial future, not that is what he did? That is just plain stupid. I would lose respect for any player that acted that way. Brees has a family. The career of an NFL player is extremely limited and very tentative. If you do not get all you can when you can you are an idiot.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

Guido, I respect your opinion, whether I agree or not. But good hell man, can't you do the same for others? Some people think Brees puts the team in a bad spot sometimes. It doesn't mean they hate him. And to be Frank, your opinion is truly that. Yours. Just because you don't agree with someone's opinion doesn't mean they are wrong and your opinion is fact and correct. By your logic, "none of us know anything" unless we were privyed to the actual situation. So... everyone has an opinion about something they don't know all the facts about. Argue if you want, but you'll not convince everyone you're right. And you may seem a bit pompous to some in attempting to do so.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

That too is nothing but speculation. But for argument's sake, let's say it is true. Let's say they did offer him a deal that averaged the highest ever, but was structured in such a manner that not much of that was guaranteed and could only be realized on the back end. That's sounds pretty familiar to Loomis type deals, no? It sounds good to someone that doesn't truly understand contracts, but isn't worth a crap as a secure deal in today's game. Gullible media members and their equally unknowing fanbase would eat it up.

And, yes, a significant drop-off, but nothing at all worth vilifying Brees over, especially when it was not his fault whatsoever.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

I am sorry, but I cannot respect, and refuse to respect, the opinion of anyone that continues to put the blame on Brees for anything when he has done nothing but be the best Saint ever on and off the field. He is blamed for personnel moves that are solely on the front office. He has no responsibility to forfeit anything he has earned to cover for the incompetence of the management. Place the blame where it belongs and not on the one individual that finally has made our Saints relevant.

How soon we forget. How shallow we are. Hell no I am not going to respect those idiotic opinions. Call me an ******* or whatever. I really don't care.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

I am starting to think AsylumGuido is Condon in disguise. Every time some one says something "unflattering" about Brees he freaks out. You have to learn to relax brother. We are allowed to have our own opinion. I for one think we should do everyting but cup Brees balls to get a new conttact done. Saints go as Brees goes.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

He might. The Saints might not want to pay Brees a big fat contract. That leaves the young gun Greyson. Trial by fire !! If you can say he'll never be nothing why can I say good of him? Prove me wrong?

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

I agree. If Brees goes, we're screwed. I want nothing more then the man to spend the rest of his career in NOLA. Cup them if that's what it takes. Cup them!!

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

Trail by fire means automatic losing and you know that. And even if the Saints lose their frickin minds and decide that Brees is not worth it, McCown gives the Saints a better chance at remaining 5-11 type of team than Grayson.

I honestly do hope Grayson can pull his head out of his butt and look decent enough to hold the clipboard.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

This is the feeling of the vast number of Saints fans. We will sink back into obscurity without him at this point. I can't understand the irrational hatred of some.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

I haven't noticed much of that at all. Who are you speaking of?

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

Oh, only those that constantly vilify Brees for being greedy and wanting the Saints to move on from him rather than giving him what he deserves. Those that blame him for the fall from grace of the Saints because of his totally crippling contract. That's all.

Re: Garrett Grayson's poise, control showing improvement in second season
 

Couldn't agree more. Some of these people act like its their money or even their tax dollars. It's Bensons money and what business is ours how much he spends. I understand the cap issue but a front loaded contract could solve that problem without hurting the team