Thoughts on Saints lack of interest in Briggs

joodas said

Honestly, Briggs is great LBer in that system. It's the dreaded tampa 2, where the WLB makes all the plays. Look at Indy, Cato June made all the plays. In Tampa, when they moved Cato to the strong side, he didnt make many plays because he's not in the playmakers position, Derrick Brooks is.

Ultimatly, we dont play in a Tampa 2, niether do many other teams. That coupled by the fact that he wanted more money probably turned off many teams. He seemed like a boom or bust type of pick up. Very similar in some degree to Jason David, a system guy playing out of his system.

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I'm not sure I'd go so far as to compare him to Jason David. Briggs has prototypical size and speed for a linebacker, and he's had over 100 tackles per year every year except his rookie season. He's a proven player regardless of what system he's in. Urlacher is the Bears go-to playmaker and yet Briggs still gets his tackles.

Jason David is undersized and does not have great footspeed. He was a true system player. Briggs is a very good player who is excelling in a system. There is a big difference.

I'm not totally disappointed we didn't get him. I'm not sure he would have come here regardless, and I think the addition of Vilma makes linebacker much less of a need. I would be very happy to draft a WLB in the 1st or 2nd round and go with that trio. Fujita is very solid and Vilma, if healthy, is a playmaker.

I would have loved to have Briggs to round out the group, but if we have a good draft we may find ourselves with a player almost as good or even better for a fraction of the cost. Thats why you build through the draft, because thats how you keep your cap in check. Rookie contracts are a pittance compared to FA contracts.