Off-season talk

Discussion in 'New Orleans Saints Forum' started by mctiger, Feb 15, 2013.

  1. fanatic

    fanatic Habitual Line Stepper

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    Ideally, we want to get younger on D, but if the price is right, it wouldn't hurt to take a chance on Harrison and have him for a year or 2. The article the said it was a long shot to land him didn't really say why. I guess it comes down to whether we could sign him under the cap.

    Imagine if we did somehow land Harrison and then drafted Mingo. Could possibly be the 2nd coming of the dome patrol (although definitely not it's equal in any way).
     
  2. mctiger

    mctiger RIP, and thanks for the music Staff Member

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    Bushrod signs with the Bears, so there's a re-shuffling of the priorities.
     
  3. fanatic

    fanatic Habitual Line Stepper

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    First Nicks last year, now Bushrod. I HATE that, but don't blame anyone for leaving for more money. That said, he did protect our $20m a year QBs blindside, so definitely need to find a comparable replacement. (Like Pro Bowl right tackles grow on trees). And I was really hoping we could sign some of the defensive FAs available, but I guess that's off the table now.
     
  4. Tiger_fan

    Tiger_fan Veteran Member

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    Well that certainly makes things a lot more interesting. I was briefly listening to Bobby Hebert the other day and he was saying he'd like to see us get Sam Baker (currently ranked the #4 available LT by PFF, Bushrod is #3....they are #6 and #7 overall at OT) or Jake Long (ranked the #2 available LT and #2 overall OT by PFF), but only if we don't over pay for them
     
  5. Tiger_fan

    Tiger_fan Veteran Member

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    From an article by Fox 8 New Orleans

    In New York, the Giants will reportedly sign
    left tackle Will Beatty to a long term
    deal worth five years, $38.75 million with
    $19 million guaranteed. It's a deal that
    essentially averages out to $7.75 million a
    season.
    That's the number the Saints should use for
    Bushrod as both he and Beatty have
    comparable resumes.
    Profootballfocus.com (the best in the
    business when it comes to truly grading
    players) had Beatty ranked third in their free
    agent left tackles list. Bushrod was ranked
    sixth.
    ...
    If Bushrod wants more than what Beatty
    received, the Saints should let him walk.
    He's not worth it.
    But if Bushrod is good with that number, the
    Saints should lock him up. There's no sense
    in playing with Drew Brees' blindside if they
    don't have to.

    (and it is reported that Bushrod signed with the Bears for pretty much the same number... Jermon Bushrod has scored
    a five-year, $35.965 million contract with
    $17.715 million guaranteed with the Bears , averaging $7.193 million)
     
  6. Tiger_fan

    Tiger_fan Veteran Member

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    As for what PFF wrote about Bushrod, they say:

    Investing Pro Bowl money in Bushrod would be an unwise risk to take, but at the right price Bushrod is a serviceable starter.


    Season 2012 was not the year for Bushrod, that 2011 was. A year removed from being among our Top 15 tackles, Bushrod got off to a slow start and, after a midseason resurgence, didn’t finish the season well either. For a player whose greatest weakness in his tenure as a starter has been consistency that isn’t a good thing and he didn’t grade positively after the Saints’ Week 11 victory in Oakland.

    To his credit, though, Bushrod has made big and clear strides from some of the abject performances that were common place in his first two seasons as a starter for the Saints in 2009 and 2010.
     
  7. Tiger_fan

    Tiger_fan Veteran Member

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    This is what CBS Sports
    wrote about the money the Bears agreed to pay Bushrod:

    that's quite a chunk of change for a guy
    who hasn't always been consistent on a
    year-to-year basis.
     
  8. Tiger_fan

    Tiger_fan Veteran Member

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    Comments on Bushrod from Saints fans:

    Honestly Bushrod was a very medocre,
    slightly above average at best LT. If we find
    the right replacement, there shouldn't be a
    significant dropoff.

    correct. and Brees can handle pressure coming from the edges better than any other QB in the
    NFL. so not as critical a position as people think

    Losing Bushrod isn't a major blow. We made
    a half *** attempt to sign him, we would have
    tried much harder if we were really worried
    about it.

    Agreed. Bushrod isn't worth any more than
    $5-6 million tops for our team.

    Its good to see our management is not
    getting held hostage on overpaying for a
    product just because its a position of need.
    Its all about value per dollar.
    Bushrod is not worth what Chicago is
    paying.
    Its kind of like Flacco getting Brees money
    simply because they had no other alternative.
    If you do deals like that more then one or 2
    times all of a sudden you are overpaying for
    the production on the field.
    Ultimately the most talented team in the NFL
    is the team that gets the most value per
    dollar spent.
    Doing one or 2 overpay jobs on a contract
    like Bushrod all of a sudden you have a team
    with less talent.

    I'm not surprised by JB's leave. Next man
    up. This team values guards before tackles, as
    evidenced by the effort to re-sign Nicks and
    subsequent signing of Grubbs, due to Brees'
    ability to feel pressure from the outside and
    step up. Interior pressure is way more trouble
    than any pressure a tackle might let by, due
    to Brees' need for clear passing lanes (He's
    not 6'5" after all.)

    Bushrod got 5 yrs $35.965 with $17.7145
    guaranteed. Not overpaying, we must had
    not valued him much.

    (Paying him that much is) Too rich for my blood

    This hurts the
    Saints. But these things happen when you
    have no money.

    Have you watched Bushrod play? He
    constantly got helped, and was manhandled
    a lot when he didn't. Brees made him look a
    lot better than he is.

    Bushrod got overpaid regardless of
    the situation. I love him as a person because
    he personifies class, but he's an average
    NFL LT, maybe above average.
     
  9. Tiger_fan

    Tiger_fan Veteran Member

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    Being that my only memory of Charles Brown was went he got his ass handed to him all day by Chris Long of the Rams, I'm surprised to read these comments on Brown from Saints fans:


    I think if he can remain healthy he'll be an
    upgrade over Bushrod. Outside of that
    horrible showing against Chris Long, he's
    looked pretty solid to me.

    I think Brown can manage. I didn't think he
    was bad last year and didn't notice much of
    any difference between he and Bushrod
    outside of normal transitionary hurdles.
    His biggest problem is staying healthy. If he
    could do so and get some consistent reps
    he'd probably improve even more.

    Charles Brown will do just fine....injury
    prone?.....so was Ivory . Then one day he
    got through it, and did not get injured
    anymore. I predict the same will happen with
    CB. One day he will get through it, and I
    believe he will outperform Bushrod, which
    will not surprise anybody.

    Brown played well when he was inserted into
    the starting lineup, I guess all people can
    focus on is that fact he had some
    injuries...
    If the Saints dont think Brown, Jones or
    Harris can play the position we will draft a
    guy...but we have three tackles in line for a
    promotion.

    I think Brown is a better pass blocker than
    Bushrod but I'm not sure about his ability in
    the run game. His main problem is injuries,
    he can't stay on the field. If he can stay
    healthy for an entire season, our offense will
    be business as usual. I think getting 1st
    team reps will do wonders for him. We don't
    need him to be elite, heck he doesn't even
    need to be very good, he just needs to be
    average to slightly above average.
     
  10. Tiger_fan

    Tiger_fan Veteran Member

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    Falcons re-signed Baker to a 6 year deal, will be interesting to see how much they agreed to paid him

    Per FOXSports:
    Baker shouldn't come close to
    Will Beatty or Jermon Bushrod money ($7-
    plus million annually).

    ESPN:
    Baker earned the deal by turning in a 2012 season
    that was by far the best of his career. Baker had
    struggled with injuries and inconsistency through
    most of his first four seasons.

    PFF wrote this about Baker being a gamble:
    When Will
    Svitek went down with
    an injury in late August
    the Falcons lost their
    insurance policy on
    Matt Ryan’s blindside
    and some were starting
    sweepstakes on how
    long Ryan would last.
    However, just a year
    removed from being
    taken apart by
    Philadelphia, and
    benched soon after,
    Baker rebounded with
    a much improved
    season as a pass
    protector, even if his
    run blocking still left
    something to be
    desired.
    If you have a short
    memory you might be
    willing to invest in
    Baker as a left tackle,
    a five-year pro for
    whom the light finally
    came on. Well, that
    short memory could
    serve you well, but just
    to refresh, he earned a
    pass protection grade
    of -11.4 in 2011 and
    his run blocking in
    2010 was even worse.
    His 2012 season
    shows that he can
    achieve his potential
    as a left tackle, but if
    you sign him to start
    you’d best have a
    decent insurance
    policy if his old form
    returns.
     

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