mayoj

Don't know if this has been done but....talking about Levar Fisher brought up other questions so I thought I'ld hit em all at once.

Thoughts/Opinions on Free Agency Overall and individually

Jermane Mayberry
Dwight Smith
Shad Meier
Levar Fisher
Antowain Smith
Jimmy Williams
Nate Pool

I think we can all agree on Smith and Mayberry being good pickups. I think Shad Meier at tight end is kind of a mystery right now just as our overall TE situation; I think if anything he'll be a more solid TE. Levar Fisher ????? Antowain Smith definitely brings in experience and vet leadership, how much better is he than Stecker though?? Nate Pool may turn out to be a great pickup but again the third WR spot is a toss up right now. Finally, Jimmy Williams. No idea about this one, maybe a Jason Craft type of pickup. Is it just for depth, or is he a legit possibility.

Overall, I think we could have been more aggressive esp on the def side. It did seem, though, that a number of players just didnt want to play for us. We need to break a piece off this year and get players interested in joining what will hopefully be a winning team. B-

Euphoria

CAP CAP CAP... we are going to be hurting this coming year so beign aggressive will cost us in years... some of the vet FA's would not really want a one year deal, more long term deals instead. I think the signings were good pick ups considering all the factors.

WhoDat

My 2 cents on FA:

For the first time in a long time, I can't find much fault in any of the acquisitions that the Saints made. Mayberry and D. Smith will definitely be starting. A. Smith will spell Deuce and could be extremely valuable should Deuce get hurt. Meier could start, and Poole will contribute, IMO - very realisitically he could contribute more than Henderson or any other WRs besides Horn and Stallworth. Fisher and Williams are both guys that they took risks on, but they did so for very little expense, and that's fine with me. If either contributes at all, it will have paid off.


That said, there are some key holes that they did not appropriately address. The two biggest clearly being DT and LB. I don't know if there were bigger holes entering the offseason at any spot on the field than DT and LB. I guess maybe OT, which they addressed well with Brown (and the development, finally, of Stinchcomb). It seems that the number one problem for the Saints over the last few seasons has been run defense. It would seem to me that you would address DT and ILB if that were the case. They did neither. I think the interior D-line will continue to be weak this season, and that will hurt the defense. I like Watson and Buckwoldt both a lot, but some veteran help - especially a consistent impact type player - is exactly what this team needs at LB. I like what I've heard and read of Fincher, but that area is still weak.

Finally, I think that they missed opportunities at CB and WR. Yes, I know that they tried to sign LBs and WRs, but they dropped the ball. Both will hurt. Moreover, Thomas and Craft have me a little nervous - especially is Fahkir isn't back, ready, or if he or McKenzie gets hurt.

There is no question that they improved through the players that they brought in. However, IMO, the team has continued to ignore some of the largest areas of concern. Maybe the last four games of last season wasn't a fluke - but I'm not ready to believe that. If the D improves a lot I'll eat m words. Until then, I give this offseason a C. Some real good moves, and some real big omissions.

\"Excuses, excuses, excuses. That’s all anyone ever makes for the New Orleans Saints’ organization.\" - Eric Narcisse


\"Being a Saints fan is almost like being addicted to crack,\" he said.[i]\"You know you should stop, but you just can\'t.\"