We always talk about Eric Martin, Wes Chandler, Joe Horn, and Marques Colston, but Early belongs in that group too, even if he thought he was a comic book hero.
Indeed. Martin was just a few pounds short of being simply a Shannon Sharpe-type of TE anyway. So that left Early as our lone actual "receiver" back then. He was a "Plan B" free agent from the Chargers, brought in during that whole trial period with free agency. It made up for losing Mel Gray in Plan B two years earlier. And like the other names on that list and guys like Dalton Hilliard, he'd have been an absolute stud in a Payton-run and Brees-quarterbacked offense.
Boy, it's something about former Chargers through the years who come to the Saints who AT LEAST become solid contributors, if not record-breaking legends -- Early, Hand, Brees and Sproles being the examples there. They make up for having Muncie and Chandler be traded there and be in playoff games.