WillSaints81

We just drafted a dt who is likely better than Onyematta last year. Onyematta is supposed to take the next step. And we have Rankins and Davison solidified. For all we know, Rankins could be Fairley-like this season. The only issue we have is depth.

K Major

Teddy Bruschi's take on Nick and his heart condition.

ChrisXVI

Just browsing news and I see that a freshman O-Lineman at Kent State has just died following conditioning drills. Hits a little close to home with this Fairley situation.

AsylumGuido

Only if that O-lineman had a known condition for years that has been successfully controlled medically. That's why cardiac testing is done at the combine ... where Fairley's condition was discovered. There are ways to prevent tragedies like what happened at Kent State if only that testing was made mandatory for athletes at every level.

burningmetal

I'm not so sure it's being controlled medically as much as he's just gotten by... So far.

My mom's first husband died from an enlarged heart back in the early 80's. He had pneumonia, went to the hospital and kept getting worse, and that's when they first discovered he had the enlarged heart. There was nothing they could do about it back then, and combined with the pneumonia which was made far worse by his condition, he died within a couple of days.

They have since come up with a procedure to essentially cut a "pie slice" out of the heart, and then sew it back together. There may be another procedure (aside from a full transplant) now, but I haven't heard of any. He needs to do something about this, or he WILL have to stop playing. It's not something you play around with and treat with pills. Medications might wart of certain things from happening, but it's far too dangerous to keep going about it that way, in my opinion.

I'm also not certain that he would be advised to play if he DID have that procedure done that I referred to. I know it can extend the life of the average person, but I'm not sure if it's safe to continue with the strenuous lifestyle of being a football player. We'll have to see.

If I had a nickel for every time I heard that, the NFL would fine and suspend me.

jeanpierre

So Sean Fazende posted this nugget...

K Major

The impact of a possible Nick Fairley retirement on the Saints salary cap | The Saints Nation

hagan714

More embarrassingly, the Saints are 3rd in the NFL currently in “Dead Money” at almost $17 million. Fairley’s retirement would put them at almost $28 million which would easily put them in 1st by a distance of near $10 million. That’s a song with a way too common refrain.

This is a huge issue for the saints.

2016 the dead hit was 40 million.

So the future looks bright in two years.

Just need to stop signing those Byrd styled bone head contracts.

Beastmode

Only thing consistent with our defense are horrible contracts. Granted, most of it's injury related but still, have to stop giving these journeymen sweet deals. Should have offered a one year deal. Take it or leave it.

SaintFanInATLHELL

Fairley's complication to his known problem were unforseen. In the past all of NFL, Lions, Rams, and Saints medical had him cleared to play. The current complication is new.

As for the one year contract, that's what the guy had last year. A one year prove it. And he proved valuable. And not only for the Saints, but to the rest of the league.

Of course the Saints could have said "one year: take it or leave it." for 2017. Fairly and his representation would have laughed and immediately shopped his wares to the rest of the league. The Saints had no real leverage to make another one year deal with Fairley.

Of course the replacement costs have to be considered. You offer Fairley a one year take it or leave it. He leaves due to very understandable lack of security and frankly a plain disrespect for his talent and contribution from the previous year. Now what? Who comes in on a one year contract anywhere near the same level of production? Is that guy still available? We can sign him now, yes?

And so here we are. It's not always just a bad decision. Sometimes it's just bad luck. But understand that the Saints are not a monopoly and just underpay and undervalue football players because they are the Saints. There are 31 other teams with just as much (or more) money than the Saints. Those teams can recognize and appropriately value talent too. So proposing lowball "take it or leave it" offers isn't the solution to the problem.

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.