A.T. Perry waived (Unclaimed off waivers); Perry signs to the Broncos practice squad (1 Viewer)

[St. Widge]

Small sample sizes work both ways, we saw some of what he could do, we didn’t see enough to definitively say what he can’t do….We will see if he gets the chance….I think it was a mistake to cut him…..

It's a small sample size to us, but the coaches saw him all offseason, in OTAs, in camp, in preseason games, in meetings, and in practice. They have a pretty good idea what he can and can't do and their sample size is much larger than ours. Not being great in practice is one thing, but if he's running wrong routes in practice, he's going to do it in games. And Kubiak mentioned that he is a strong believer that you play how you practice. Being willing to let players get away with being sloppy and lack of attention to detail is what we all criticized Carmichael for.

Being cut might be the motivation he needs to put in time to run better routes and learn the playbook. He might become a good player in the future, but he's run the wrong routes and/or didn't know the playbook for two years in a row. I think they wanted to keep him but it was a numbers game due to injuries and a guy that needs to learn the offense and learn better routes needs to be on the practice squad. And I can't help but noticing that the 31 other NFL teams agreed since they all passed on picking him up on waivers and putting him on their 53. Even Denver only put him on their practice squad and that's what we offered but he refused.

So I think the moral of this story is that all 32 NFL teams think he is a practice squad level player, despite making some plays last year. But, maybe all 32 NFL teams are wrong about him. It wouldn't be the first time that happened.

 

[SWJJ]

Small sample sizes work both ways, we saw some of what he could do, we didn’t see enough to definitively say what he can’t do….We will see if he gets the chance….I think it was a mistake to cut him…..

Once again, I'm not saying he was our best player. I'm saying that he was productive in the snaps he was given. It's obvious that he wasn't given much opportunity, but he made the most out of his snaps and targets. I can't invent stats for snaps he didn't get. But he did more last year than the three guys we kept this year are doing.

Dude played 343 snaps

read it again, 343 snaps, and had 12 catches.


He had PLENTY of chances. But he can't get open, can't produce, despite having seen 343 snaps.

 

[Elvis]

I think he has the advantage of height, has solid hands, and is good when plays break down, but I don't think that's enough when he doesn't run good routes and can't learn the playbook. You just can't have a guy out there who isn't running the routes he is supposed to run because it results in Interceptions and the QB taking hits because he isn't where he is supposed to be.

Still I would have liked to have kept him because he does have that advantage and he did make some plays in a small sample size, but it was a numbers game because of the OL injuries. He offsets some of the route issues and not running correct routes by being good when the play breaks down, but first you have to run the play that was called correctly.

If I recall correctly, he was one of the WRs who were not running correct routes last year which resulted in Kodi Burns going. And those are the kinds of lack of attention to detail that Pete Carmichael was allowing to happen. Kubiak is not putting up with that which is likely why Perry was #6 on the depth chart and expendable.

That can all be true. But we don't have any size at WR and great hands aren't something we have either. I mean, throw the guy on some go routes and let him be the guy that has a change to catch some of Carr's throw away balls when the pocket breaks down. Shaheed and Olave at 6 feet tall are hardly going to beat out DBs of the same size.

To be fair, Wilson/Tipton/Means have all been more productive through 5 games than A.T. was through 5 games last year.

But he was one of the guys that contributed to Carr looking better at the end of last season. Maybe Carr needs a bigger target than we currently have.

 

[Elvis]

Dude played 343 snaps

read it again, 343 snaps, and had 12 catches.


He had PLENTY of chances. But he can't get open, can't produce, despite having seen 343 snaps.

Yet more efficient than Michael Thomas, Juwan Johnson and Foster Moreau who all got more snaps and targets in 2023.

 

[rsmith2783]

Why are we acting like A.T. Wasn’t A DOG last Year? He was a bright spot in the preseason games this year.

Most of the time when a player is either cut or traded, you're going to have those that defend the decision that the team has made. If this board existed when Morten Anderson was cut, I would have loved to read the posts on those defending the Saints decision.

 

[St. Widge]

That can all be true. But we don't have any size at WR and great hands aren't something we have either. I mean, throw the guy on some go routes and let him be the guy that has a change to catch some of Carr's throw away balls when the pocket breaks down. Shaheed and Olave at 6 feet tall are hardly going to beat out DBs of the same size.


But he was one of the guys that contributed to Carr looking better at the end of last season. Maybe Carr needs a bigger target than we currently have.

I do think we need some more physical receivers, but I'm not sure that Perry was really that guy. I think he was just a tall finesse guy that was mostly a deep threat. And we already have that, minus the height, in Olave, Shaheed, and maybe Tipton.

It would have been nice to get Perry's height on the field, but if he can't learn the playbook or run the right routes, that's not going to happen. And those things are especially important in the red zone.

I think we are going to have to look in the draft or free agency in the coming year to add that threat whether it is a WR or a TE. It's also possible that Bub Means is ready next year but I would rather draft or sing another guy or two.

 

[St. Widge]

Most of the time when a player is either cut or traded, you're going to have those that defend the decision that the team has made. If this board existed when Morten Anderson was cut, I would have loved to read the posts on those defending the Saints decision.

Or, you know, maybe it's just that people have a different opinion than you. One shared by the rest of the NFL by the way.

 

[RJS]

That can all be true. But we don't have any size at WR and great hands aren't something we have either. I mean, throw the guy on some go routes and let him be the guy that has a change to catch some of Carr's throw away balls when the pocket breaks down. Shaheed and Olave at 6 feet tall are hardly going to beat out DBs of the same size.


But he was one of the guys that contributed to Carr looking better at the end of last season. Maybe Carr needs a bigger target than we currently have.

The team could absolutely use a bigger receiver but preferably one who can offer something in the run game. They need a Juaun Jennings type.

A.T. Perry is an interesting case. He's a guy who I would love to have on the field if the team was down two scores. He's also a guy whose lack of details helped put the team down two scores.

There's still plenty of time for him to figure it out and the Saints wanted to keep him.

 

[St. Widge]

Yet more efficient than Michael Thomas, Juwan Johnson and Foster Moreau who all got more snaps and targets in 2023.

I mean MT was a shell of himself, Johnson was hurt most of the year, and Moreau was recovering from cancer. Plus Moreau and Johnson are TEs and Johnson and Moreau's years were big disappointments.

He was a solid prospect, but the guy played significant snaps in 8 or 9 games last year and only had 12 catches. 4 of those were TDs and that's what makes him stand out in people's minds. But sometimes those things are statistical anomalies and if a guy can't learn the playbook two years in a row, there may be issues. Still, it would have been nice to have him on the PS, but he refused the offer.

 

[DavidM]

As is typical around here, opinions have to run to the extremes, while also ignoring that multiple things can be true at once.

I like Perry’s potential and I was disappointed to see it didn’t work out for him with the Saints.

I can appreciate what he did on the field (both in the regular season last year and leading all receivers in the preseason this year) but also understand that he didn’t do enough for the coaches to value him ahead of other young WRs and/or he doesn’t fit a vision in the new system as well as others.

None of that means he’s a scrub, nor does liking his potential infer he’s Canton bound.

He’s a developmental player with a nice combination of size and some athleticism, who has a lot of room to improve. That’s about all that’s known at this point - passionate conclusions about a second year player, one way or another, notwithstanding.

 

[rsmith2783]

Or, you know, maybe it's just that people have a different opinion than you. One shared by the rest of the NFL by the way.

Everyone is always going to have a different opinion. I'm just going by what i've observed.

 

[kcirdor]

Or, you know, maybe it's just that people have a different opinion than you. One shared by the rest of the NFL by the way.

And some folks just like to argue...

 

[St. Widge]

Everyone is always going to have a different opinion. I'm just going by what i've observed.

That's cool and so am I. But I don't get the need to accuse others of always supporting the decisions of the team when they express their opinion.

 

[St. Widge]

And some folks just like to argue...

It's good that you know yourself well.

 

[Elvis]

I mean MT was a shell of himself, Johnson was hurt most of the year, and Moreau was recovering from cancer. Plus Moreau and Johnson are TEs and Johnson and Moreau's years were big disappointments.

He was a solid prospect, but the guy played significant snaps in 8 or 9 games last year and only had 12 catches. 4 of those were TDs and that's what makes him stand out in people's minds. But sometimes those things are statistical anomalies and if a guy can't learn the playbook two years in a row, there may be issues. Still, it would have been nice to have him on the PS, but he refused the offer.

That's all fair. I've heard the playbook thing before but not from any kind of official source. AT was a 6th round rookie on a busted offense that seemed to be pulling things together at the end of the season in 2023. Him being cut isn't anything to riot over, but it seems like a lost opportunity to coach up a guy with good hands and size that is rare. That he only has 6 less TDs in 10 games and 18 targets than Olave has in 36 games and 285 targets just makes me scratch my head why we'd give up on him instead of someone like Rico Payton who was a UDFA at a position of depth. And we're talking about trading for a WR? It's just odd to me.