decision making (1 Viewer)

saintsplaya

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last year with some of the big name free agents the saints were real patient and didnt go after the big money guys like clements and adalius thomas as well as a few others. seems as if they searched long and hard to find someone (jason david) to make a splash and not have to pay too much, kinda like a diamond in the rough. well they missed big time so far with that choice. its clear we need to be more active and sign better players. do yall think the saints will keep going after guys like jason david and KK as opposed to going after bigger names with a higher price?? there seems to be a trend with the SAINTS getting free agents and draft picks that are low key or small school kids hoping to strike gold. isnt it time to use up some of this cap space with guys we all know can make a difference instead of being under the cap sooo much with people we hope can make a difference???
 
I think the Saints know that they are close to being able to compete for a championship and realize that the window doesn't stay open very long in this league. I also think that they realize that they blew it big time last offseason and will attack FA. I'm thinking 3 players. Samuels and if we don't get him, it won't be because we were lacking in what we offer but because of Samuels own idea of who he thinks is the better team. Samuels has his Rings and now, it's all about money. Lance Briggs wants a Ring and that's why I think NE just might get him. He won't make the money there, that he would somewhere else like NO but we'll see. I think a lot of FA's that want a ring, recognize that the Saints have the firepower to get there and only need defense and maybe a player or two on offense but with the offense we have already, we are capable of winning the Super Bowl. I think we can sign both Samuels and Briggs as well as extend Colston and Smith allowing us to take Kenny Phillips at S in round one unless Ellis is there.
 
Jason David was our 3rd option. We went after Clement and Hood and they wouldn't sign here.
 
David never truly excited me as a signing. But I know we all figured that he was an upgrade over Fred Thomas. To all of our dismay, he wasnt.We thought we could get by with what we thought to be mid level talent. Big mistake on our parts. Every signing we made seemed to come back to bite us. Mare, David, Simmons, and even giving Grant a huge contract. I would love to see us get Asante or the DB from Oakland or even Florence. I dont see us getting any one of them though. The truth is guys we dont get big name free agents here. We got lucky with Brees, he was spurned and left for by Miami. I hope im wrong on this one.
 
Jason David was our 3rd option. We went after Clement and Hood and they wouldn't sign here.



Which is why building threw the draft is so important, which I also think Payton knows, which is why he stressed getting "younger" on defense, New Orleans is a hard sell, because we don't have a history of winning.
 
Did we seriously go after Clement?, my recollection is no.
 
i believe we went after dre bly but millen didnt want to trade him to the NFC so he went to denver.
 
i believe we went after dre bly but millen didnt want to trade him to the NFC so he went to denver.

Correct. We tried hard to get Bly...

And I wonder, in hindsight, if SF would still have paid as much for Clements as they did. He was a decent corner for them, but was he worth the mountain of money that SF paid him? I don't think so.

Now, Adalius Thomas was a different story. He got plugged into a very successful D. I wonder if he would have as successful in a rebuilt D as he was in NE, even though his success there might also be questionable for the amount of money he was paid.

Throwing a bunch of money at an established player does not automatically = success. Some pro scouts are predicting issues with Lance Briggs because he may be a product of the Bears system. Is he? I dunno.

And you have to be very careful not to throw a ton of money at a player who doesn't produce at the level you expect him to. That kind of thing can be much more disastrous long term than signing someone like David.

But I do know, or at least believe, that it isn't about the money. It is about personnel evaluation.

All that said, some of our FA pickups were obviously not the answer.

JMO.
 
I have a sneaky feeling that things will be different this year. Last year, we tried to go after some top tier FA's and wound up missing the boat on the opportunity. Or should I say, the FA decided not to get on ours.

Yes, we did get burnt on the J. David situation, but if I recall, the contract was front loaded so the Colts couldn't match it. I believe he salary is more respectable....albeit still overpaid for what he produces. It wouldn't suprise me if he was asked to restructure. His name is complete mud in the league for being the WORST CB in the NFL. I think he would make a good nickel/dime back but that's about it. He's too short, bites too often and honestly....haven't really seen him make a tackle worthy of his price tag. We all know he gets burnt worse than his predecessor (Thomas), so he's got an uphill battle on his hands. I don't remember the exact specifics of his contract, but I believe the cap hit is minimal at best if he were to get cut. My only fear is some team running the Cover 2 (Tampa) would sweep him up and he'd be on fire.

This is a complete lesson that players are only talented to a certain level. In the wrong system (Cover 2 converted to Man - to - Man) he was a flop. We need to make sure we go after players that not only upgrade our team but will not need half a season to get acclimated to our system.

We talk about it all the time with LB's how are better suited for the 3-4 instead of the 4-3. We should do the same for any of the DB's (CB, SS, FS). Hopefully, we do the same with our draft picks. I don't want a killer CB who can't play man to man because he will be a two year project and we'll want him hanged.....for selecting him and sitting the bench as coach tells us he's coming along and learning the playbook, etc.

So, the FO needs to go after the FA's in a big way right out of the gate with players who can play the position we need them to. AND....target draft players who can step into a least a backup role and push for a starting position. We have lots of needs on defense and I'll take a 3rd round CB able to play the nickel on day one and work his way to the #2 or #1 spot OVER a 1st round CB who can fit our system well and has to take an entire season to get up to speed and wastes a pick for us.
 

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