Musings on being "robbed" of our second rounder and why we do not need to trade back (necessarily)
Your FA suggestions are bonkers. There is no way one team lands Reed, Wallace, Long AND others. Your predictions might seem reasonable to you but you're overlooking a few major factors. Firstly, they're are other teams in the NFL and of any of the highly desirable FAs you mention WERE going to be signed by a team to such reasonable contracts they would outbid! Secondly, you mentioned being able to sign Grubbs, Bunkley and Hawthorne after retaining Colston and Brees. Yes, we did sign those (second tier) FAs. Their contracts, combined with Brees' and others are the reason we're further over the cap than almost any team in the league! Your argument to support your scheme is actually a good illustration of why it won't happen.
I don't mean to be a buzz kill. I just don't think wildly optimistic, unrealistic projections (like Dictator Goodell returning our 2nd for instance) are to be encouraged.
Second-tier FAs. Hmm, Grubbs was the #2 rated OG, Bunkley the #1 rated DT, and Lofton and Hawthorne the top two rated LBs. Aside from the $100 million we gave Drew, and the close to $37 million we gave Colston, we also handed out a total of $108 million to these remaining four players. Second-tier FAs do not get that kind of coin.
The Saints, like other teams, have to finagle with their contracts each year. It is the reality of things in today's NFL where the cap decreased last year from its pre-2010 level (the uncapped season), and has seen only minimal increases in 2012 and now expected for 2013. So, teams that constructed deals years ago in anticipation that the cap would continue to rise have found things tougher. Will Smith's contract, for instance, looms larger than ever with us being tight against the cap. But we are by NO MEANS handcuffed. Teams will continue to entice free agents with nice bonuses while signing them to cap friendly deals. The Saints are masters at that, and while I do not expect them to go on some sort of reckless spending spree, I do expect them to be active.
Next, the biggest contract that we handed out last year that is hanging over our head is Drew's deal, not the others. His cap figure of $17.2 million is what we have to address moving forward even as we continue to make sure he gets his money. That can be done by re-working the deal and putting bonuses into it.
Finally, what you see is not what you get. I think sometimes we pay too much attention to the numbers when the devil is in the details. There are contracts that are signed that look really huge on the surface, but once you break them down you realize that they are not quite what they seem. You call the moves unrealistic? Fine. I shrug. Why? Well, it's not because I think we will definitely sign everyone I have suggested we target but I also recognize that it is not impractical or unrealistic. Jermon Bushrod is looking at a deal that likely will end up on the surface being 5 years, $40 million. Point is, his average we will likely be around $8 million a season. Long wants an average of $10 million a season. We have to make a move in that direction no matter how you look at so I do not see how that is unrealistic. Beyond that, the only big-price FA I projected is Mike Wallace. Ed Reed is a big name but at this juncture in his career, he's likely to command a salary similar to Darren Sharper. Larry Grant is not a big ticket FA. So, we are essentially replacing one tackle with another and then adding one high-priced FA.
I do not need to be encouraged by you, and I do not care if the Saints do not make any of the moves I suggested. The point of this thread was that the lost 2nd rounder should not send us into a panic as far as trading down to accumulate more picks and it also should not cause us to overlook the fact that we Mickey Loomis will put us into a position to fill as many needs heading to draft as he can. He has always taken this approach and this year will not change that philosophy!