Week 6 Rapid Response: Go Ahead and Break the Glass

Guys, it's not remotely the main point of the article... but on the Adams stuff...

I am not advocating for it one way or the other. But I am advocating for answers. Right now, unless around 8+ players are about to be healthy and game-ready, those answers aren't coming from inside the building.

Part of being an NFL GM is you don't make a decision based on one season. Part of being an NFL coach is you don't make a decision based on one game. The argument against going after Adams (or making any aggressive trade moves, it would seem) is that the season is over.

Or, at the very least, the future needs to take precedent.

Two things can be true at the same time. 1) the season is not over; 2) the future should not be sacrificed for the now. For #1 to have a chance of remaining true, answers have to be found. And the degree to which a "now" investment can be made in finding those answers really depends on the outlook of the season, according to the coaches and front office.

As fans we are reeling from watching the worst defensive performance in recent memory. But is that who this defense is? While they haven't been stellar this season (I've voiced my criticisms since day 1), they have not been even remotely as bad as they were Sunday night. So to use that single performance as the case for the rest of the season is just as knee-jerk (though far less optimistic) as us all being convinced (myself included) that the first two games were an iron-clad indicator of an elite, historic season ahead.

So yes, draft capital and the future and Adams' age is all part of the discussion. But this isn't really about Adams. This is about "do you throw in the towel 6 games into a 17-game season?" Or do you do your damn job and find the answers this team needs? This rash of injuries the Saints are experiencing now--it's gonna happen to other teams these next 6 weeks. And then another group of teams the next 6. This losing streak--it's gonna happen to someone else.

What position do you want to be in when parity strikes?

I am, as I said, not confident that the Saints can turn it around with this group of coaches and players. But I say that with THE DESIRE to be proven wrong. Whether Davante Adams becomes a Saint or not isn't the point.

But how and where this team looks for answers--and whether or not they find them--that's gonna have implications for this season and beyond. As a coach and GM, it could decide whether or not they keep their jobs.

As fans--the stakes are much lower, sure, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna stay up late on the other side of the world to watch a team that doesn't even care take the field. That's not what this game is about, and it's not what any of us signed up for.

And if I feel this way--I promise you, so do the players. They aren't out here to put their bodies on the line for a club that's ready to go into "rebuilding mode" 6 games into the season.

So yea... Fork* that s***. I don't care if it's Adams or the ghost of Earl Campbell himself--find some answers and put up a fight. Otherwise you'll find yourself trying to rebuild more than just a roster.