I need some things explained to me...
I'm a Falcons fan, but I think I can answer your questions.
1. To recover from two serious knee injuries would be an immpressive feat. Add that to his large salery and the odds would appear to be against him. Never trust what a coach says!
2. Anyone who thinks the Saints should take McFadden doesn't understand football. Ignore them.
3. He is good, plus people have a tendency to over hype players they like.
Thats what I think anyway.
1. As long as the knee injuries are in seperate knees, there have been many case of a RB coming back after tearing both ACL's in the span of a few years. Jamal Lewis did this and went on to rush for 2000 yards in a season. Add to that Deuce's salary is not large, neither is his signing bonus, and both Meuller and Loomis have said that it is a non issue and hasn't even been discussed or considered for discussion. Both have said that unless something freaky or catastrophic happens, like a bizarre injury setback comparable to LeCharles Bentley, that Deuce would be with the team this season.
2. I agree to an extent. If we had filled all of our defensive needs with compentent starters and didn't pass up any obvious defensive starters, I could see it happening, and would be interested to see exactly wether or not McFadden is Mcphearson good and how freakish our backfield would be then.
3. I really don't know a thing about DRC. I haven't seen one play of him. I do know about a guy named Dorsey and a guy named Ellis, and I would much prefer drafting them and maybe getting DRC or Flowers in round two. Anyone remember Fabian Washington? Dude really looked great at the combine.
To the original poster, I absolutely loved how you set up this thread and the points you make about openmindedness and liking to hear both sides of the story. I can see why people are goo goo ga ga over McFadden and DRC alike, and the only thing I can't reconcile is the attitude that either Deuce has to take a pay cut or leave. If I injured my knee, and as a result of rehab, made my entire leg much stronger than it was before, and showed this in my performance for a full year, then went out and injured my opposite knee, I don't see any reason I couldn't fully recover from it as Deuce appears to be doing. Sports medicine has progressed exponentially in terms of ACL repair and recovery, and as long as there are no complications during recovery, have had a very quick turnaround in terms of getting back on the field and to the same level of production.
I think Deuce will be every bit as good as he was in 2006. The key is for our coach to run him the right way, and spell him with Thomas. Keep using Reggie in perpetual motion so we know what scheme the defense is running, keep them honest, and leave them guessing. This team would be taking a backwards step replacing Deuce with any RB in the first few rounds of the draft, and it would be premature to cut him before acquiring and finding out how good a second day RB could be. Especially considering the needs we have on defense, namely DT, WLB, CB, and S. If we draft any offense, I only hope it is T, C, TE, or even WR in late rounds. Deuce's salary isn't large at all, and with the accelerations of guaranteed money, I do not believe we would be saving any money cutting him. I simply see no postive coming from it.