The Saints can’t afford to not pay Nick Fairley (1 Viewer)

RevDeuceWindham

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Given his recent production, as well as how well he has done over his career (with some weight issues and injury at times), I feel the Saints would be shooting themselves in the foot if they didn't re-sign Nick Fairley. Read the article, and let me know what you think about bringing Fairley back!


Article For Your Enjoyment
 
I'd be just fine if we didn't sign him. I'm all in for drafting another DT early and letting him walk and spending the $$ elsewhere.
 
Whatever the FO does i'm fine with... but i'm not going to be upset if we don't resign him. I don't think it's a back breaker whatsoever.
 
Good read.....
I would love to bring Fairley back. My concern is paying him too much knowing that he will eventually sit behind Rankins.
I like your idea of structuring his contract so that it will allow the Saints to cut him in a couple of years when he probably won't be too productive anyway.
I'm anxious to see what will happen.
The D-line was vastly improved last season. And it didn't take too long to see how big of a difference Fairley made for our D.
 
Thanks for the read. I don't think the numbers irrefutably lead to the conclusions you've reached, but clearly we should look at his most recent production as being more indicative of future performance than previous years.

However, I don't buy the excuse that other excellent players like Suh and Donald inherently limited his previous opportunities. For one thing, you can get two DTs on the field at once. Secondly, a dominant inside player alongside you should open up more opportunities as the offense concentrates and schemes on stopping them instead.

Ultimately, I think New Orleans signed Fairley to give reasonable veteran cover while Rankins got through his rookie year. As it turned out, Rankins was out early and Fairley took his opportunity to shine.

Question now is whether the Saints plan has changed and they see him as important to their interior rotation, or if he remains a disposable chess piece.
 
I've been meaning to ask this for a while......

Couldn't Fairley lose weight and be the RDE we've been needing? His jump off the line is awesome, his punch into the chest is ground shaking, he could bull rush the LT into the QB....etc.
Besides, we have two excellent inside guys and Onyamata appears to be a great sub at the very least.
 
I want Fairley back but the only thing that bothers me is that he had arguably his best season in a contract year....will he be as motivated and productive once he gets his payday? That's the gamble to be taken in all of this.
 
I would like to see him back but if it's gonna hurt us cap wise I don't. Nick played awsome for us and if he wants to play for us he gotta realize we have other needs as well to build this D up and be a contender again . I hope it gets done but not at the cost of the future
 
Signing Fairly is a priority but if another team is willing to overpay, we'll have to let him walk. We've got Rankins anyway. It sure was nice having him around when Rankins got hurt though.
 
For me not to bring Fairley back in really depends on who we are getting instead. If bringing Fairley back stops us from getting a Gilmore or Zeitler then I would let him walk. He's an important piece to our team but I think other guys can have a bigger impact. Hate to let him walk but for me it all depends on what the options are.
 
Yeah and we got Rankins who we drafted for that position as well a healthy Rankins prob would have had 6.5 sacks this year if not more
 
Given his recent production, as well as how well he has done over his career (with some weight issues and injury at times), I feel the Saints would be shooting themselves in the foot if they didn't re-sign Nick Fairley. Read the article, and let me know what you think about bringing Fairley back!


Article For Your Enjoyment

The double-negative in that headline tripped me up.

Good article. Thanks.
 
The question is... what's a fair price? He's not elite, so he really can't expect elite money. He's a good solid starting caliber 3-tech. I like having him and Rankins rotate and even getting creative with both on the field.

Right now our D-line is 1 player away from being complete. Without Fairley, we're one injury away from being short handed, again.
 
The question is... what's a fair price? He's not elite, so he really can't expect elite money. He's a good solid starting caliber 3-tech. I like having him and Rankins rotate and even getting creative with both on the field.

Right now our D-line is 1 player away from being complete. Without Fairley, we're one injury away from being short handed, again.

True
 
I'd be just fine if we didn't sign him. I'm all in for drafting another DT early and letting him walk and spending the $$ elsewhere.

I understand your argument. There are quality DTs in this draft. However, when you only have 6 picks as it is, why take such a risky bet of adding another open position and trying to fill it in the draft?

Good read.....
I would love to bring Fairley back. My concern is paying him too much knowing that he will eventually sit behind Rankins.
I like your idea of structuring his contract so that it will allow the Saints to cut him in a couple of years when he probably won't be too productive anyway.
I'm anxious to see what will happen.
The D-line was vastly improved last season. And it didn't take too long to see how big of a difference Fairley made for our D.

Our editor, John Hendrix, and I will be doing a live FB video tonight covering Free Agency and the Saints salary cap. Nick Fairley will be a big part of that discussion. How they decide to structure his contract is very important to keep both sides happy. John also has some pretty cool ideas of how the Saints can get another cool 10 million to spend.

I want Fairley back but the only thing that bothers me is that he had arguably his best season in a contract year....will he be as motivated and productive once he gets his payday? That's the gamble to be taken in all of this.

He did have his best season last year, but remember he has had two contract years previously and didn't do poorly. (One ended in injury and the other ended after he was a back up to Aaron Donald).

The double-negative in that headline tripped me up.

Good article. Thanks.

I'm slightly evil.

The question is... what's a fair price? He's not elite, so he really can't expect elite money. He's a good solid starting caliber 3-tech. I like having him and Rankins rotate and even getting creative with both on the field.

Right now our D-line is 1 player away from being complete. Without Fairley, we're one injury away from being short handed, again.

As a general rule, I consider the top 5 at any position, regardless of their contracts to be the elite. In the scenario I mention in the article he would be paid between 9-11. I say that's about right.
 

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