SaintFanInATLHELL

Why?

How? You can go back 10 years in this Saints offense and see that the scheme creates productive tight ends. Let's not forget that a year ago there was all this hand wringing about JG being shipped to Seattle. 74 catches, 825 yards, and 6 TDs later...

Point is the TE position has produced like that each and every year. I see it the other way around, the Saints offense is going to help Fleener, who may be a Pro Bowl TE by the end of the season.

A lot of this receiver discussion has me scratching my head. It's almost like the wrong word has been substituted in this sentence:

"In 2015 the Saints had a bottom 5 ranked passing _______________."

and everyone is putting the word offense into the blank instead of defense, which is the truth.

The Saints had the #1 ranked passing offense last year.
The Saints have the vast majority of their personnel from that #1 ranked passing offense returning.
The Saints have added a few more weapons to the #1 ranked passing offense from last year.

I know it's the offseason, at least for one more week, but exactly why again are we having this discussion?

I want to state for the record that I would have absolutely no problem going into the season with Cooks, Sneed, Thomas, Coleman, Fleener, Hill, and Hooman along with the running backs of Ingram, Hightower, Spiller, and whichever of Cadet or Murphy who survives the final roster cut. As long as the offensive line keeps Brees upright, I see no reason why such a group would not produce 5500+ passing yards and more than 40 TDs next year.

SFIAH

Super Bowl Championships: New Orleans Saints:1, Carolina:0, Atlanta Chokers: STILL ZERO

Only Atlanta choked in an unchokable situation... Life is definitely good.

K Major

Hey SFIAH,
Why bring in Boldin? Possibly the same reasons Saints front office signed James Laurinaitis & Roman Harper... Veteran presence & high football IQ guys. We are extremely young at the WR position (we have what, 3 total that were even drafted?) & Boldin is still highly productive. He would be an excellent mentor to guys like Michael Thomas, Snead, Coleman etc. Cooks is our oldest WR @ the ripe age of 23.

Cooks and Snead are the real deal. After that it gets dicey.

Good teams make these kind of moves every year.

SaintFanInATLHELL

Lautinaitis and Harper are a different case. The defense last year was historically bad. And very undisciplined. So both a talent upgrade and a veteran presence were warranted.

BTW there's no guarantee that Harper is going to make the final 53. He suffers the same problem as a veteran receiver would have, which is that there is more talent in front of him and that he's not going to play special teams. Watch for him to be cut before the start of the season and resigned when the contract is no longer guaranteed.

Cooks and Snead are the real deal. So why do they need a mentor? They and Coleman spent the last year or two in the WR meeting rooms with Colston. These guys have been playing with Brees for full campaigns. Collectively they accounted for nearly half the production of the #1 passing offense last year. So what exactly is a "veteran WR mentor" going to bring to the table that they have no already been exposed to?

Seems like with 31 teams trailing the Saints in passing offense that one of those "good teams" would have made that move already. Yet Boldin sits unsigned. Kinda makes you wonder.

With Colston retiring, the youth movement at receiver is complete. There is no reason that Cooks, Snead, Thomas, and Coleman should not be the core receiver group. And that 5th slot needs to go to a UDFA that can also play special teams.

There's no room for "veteran mentors". That's why Boldin will likely not be signed. It's the same reason that Harper will not be on the team when they line up against the Raiders.

SFIAH

Super Bowl Championships: New Orleans Saints:1, Carolina:0, Atlanta Chokers: STILL ZERO

Only Atlanta choked in an unchokable situation... Life is definitely good.

K Major

Valid argument on Boldin however we shall see.

As for Harper, often times it's about on field leadership. Something we simply didn't have in 2015 (omitting Brees). I'll be the first to admit that I was never a fan of RH, however he has staying power. When 9/11 (Oakland) comes, expect RH to be on the field. Maybe not on the field every down but possibly in some sort of 3 safety look (possibly a LB comes off the field) @ the line of scrimmage.

I think we have other players in place to cover his weaknesses. I think the signing was not intended for RH to be a game changer but for added DEPTH & to implement Dennis Allen's defense.

I'm sure RH understands he isn't coming back to start.