mike d said on the radio today...... (1 Viewer)

I have heard it from a good source that Deuce has been already contacted about restructuring. Don't know how involved the talks have been, only that some dialog has been exchanged. They would like too keep him, however, they realize its not likely he is going to return to form after two major knee injuries. They do think he can still be an effective 10-15 carry back, just not a 60+ million dollar franchise back. Don't know what they would do if Deuce refuses, however personally I think Deuce would be very receptive with the recent injuries.

My personal take on our free agents or potential contracts with soon to be free agents.

Colston: Will most likely get a new deal soon. He has been a beast and definitly deserves more than what he is making. The most recent contracts to go off of were Kevin Curtis of the Eagles (6 year 32 million with 9.5 gauranteed) and Reggie Wayne (6 year 40 million with 13 gauranteed). I would probably expect something similar to those deals. The cap hit all depends on how it is structured. What is actual signing bonus, roster bonus, salary ,etc. Colston's agent might also want to wait to see what kind of deals potential free agents such as Randy Moss, Bennard Berrian get to reference off.

Will Smith: Even though we heard praise from Gibbs on Smith's performance I still am not sold on shelling out top DE money after last year. Regardless of what some people think about him, we just gave Charles Grant big money and got less than expected performance from him. Personally I would wait until next offseason, or during the season to see if Smith and the defense can bounce back. If he does well and you can't get something done you can always franchise him.

Aaron Stecker: I guess it all depends on the market. It shouldn't be high, but some team desperated for a running back could offer more than that Saints are willing to give. I think Stecker brings good things to this offense, but nothing that I would call irreplaceable. We still have Reggie and Thomas along with what we assume will be a healthy Deuce. If need be we could always sign another mid-tier runningback or grab one in the draft in the mid round. I would try to re-sign him, but dont' think he can't be replaced.

Brian Young: I definitly re-sign him, giving him a deal similar to the one we gave Hollis Thomas. 3 years 11-12 million. He is at least a valuable part of the D-line roation and at times, when healthy a very good 3-tech that can get pressure on the QB.

David Patten: He was the best offseason free agent. He came in, caught 54 passes for almost 800 yards and was one of Drew's favorite targets. Definitly re-sign and I think he stays for a reasonable amount to stay productive in this offense.

Terrence Copper: Valuable special teams man that can fill in at WR when needed. Definitly re-sign if the price is not inflated.

Eric Johnson: Valuable player, that minus those two costly drops at Houston, played well. Had more yards, receptions than all our TE's two years ago. Is a much better player than Billy Miller (though Miller has his place). Was very productive in his 1st year as a Saint. The only thing that scares me is his injury history, which came into play late this year. But besides LJ Smith, seems to be the best option on the market.

Billy Miller: Vaulable backup player that can make plays when needed. Definitly try to bring him back in for depth.

Regardless, even if we give Smith a new deal, Colston a new deal. Re-sign every free agent we have, we shouldn't take up any more than 10-12 million in actual cap space, leaving plently of room to sign a couple defensive play makers and add through the draft.


great info on Duece and great take on the free agents.

So, I assume you think we will not resign Goodwin, Faine, or Nesbit? Personally, I would resign Goodwin to start, let Faine and Nsbit go, and sign Alan Faneca to play LG and to be a veteran leader for the line. Faneca also can play all 5 line positions.
 
heard it on a local radio affiliate here in my parts, klrz fm. mike had a different slant on our cap situation. he said we did have 30 or so million dollars in cap money. he said we do not have any significant tight ends signed yet, brian young is not signed, will smith is in the last year of his deal, colston will also enter the last year of his deal. he also said patten, copper, and maybe someone else, were also ufa's. he mentioned aaron stecker also being an ufa. he stated that resigning some of these players will take a good chunk of that cap number. just passing on what i heard this morning. do you guys think this will hamper our aggressiveness in free agency? he mentioned, as most of you guys have stated before, we need one or more top tiered corners, an impact linebacker, and one dominating defensive linemen. that's about the gist of what he said.
i dont think we need to resign brian young, copper ,stecker,and some of our other ufa. take care of colston and smith and get impact players from of the free agent market and the draft.
 
forgot to mention this yesterday, but i do remember mike d. also saying that it is unlikely trufant or asmounga (??) will be available cause they will most likely remain with their current teams.
 
great info on Duece and great take on the free agents.

So, I assume you think we will not resign Goodwin, Faine, or Nesbit? Personally, I would resign Goodwin to start, let Faine and Nsbit go, and sign Alan Faneca to play LG and to be a veteran leader for the line. Faneca also can play all 5 line positions.


I actually just forgot to put them in there. Faine will be re-signed. Nesbit is a guy they also want to bring back, but I think that really depends on the market and how ready they think Alleman will be. Goodwin is a good backup, but that is about it. Faine is a favorite of the coaching staff. He played injured most of the season, healthy he is one of the best centers out there.
 
I actually just forgot to put them in there. Faine will be re-signed. Nesbit is a guy they also want to bring back, but I think that really depends on the market and how ready they think Alleman will be. Goodwin is a good backup, but that is about it. Faine is a favorite of the coaching staff. He played injured most of the season, healthy he is one of the best centers out there.

From what I've read and heard, Alleman needs a little more seasoning. I wouldn't hate it of Faine comes back, but I'd really love to see us go after Faneca and let Nesbit go. I think having a grisled vet like Faneca would really improve the offensive line play.
 
...He played injured most of the season, healthy he is one of the best centers out there.

True statement. But his inability to stay healthy has been the knock on him and why Cleveland was willing to let him go so cheaply.

I think that there is some merit to that complaint about him. If you keep Faine as your #1 center, you need to be prepared to have an adequate sub to fill in at times during the year. That is where Goodwin comes in to play.

Hopefully, if they chose to keep Faine (and I think that they will) they will either keep Goodwin as well or seek out another second level center to take his place.
 
Deuce is surely gone or back at a greatly reduced number.
.

How? Deuce's salary is negligible this year and the cap ramifications of cutting him would be ridiculous. I just can't see that happening this year and even restructuring isn't helping this year.
 
Charley Casserly just said on the CBS pregame show that he thinks Colsten will get a long term extension at some point during the offseason. I would imagine that's gonna involve giving him a considerable raise. He's earned it.

Agreed - the way he played this year he definitely deserves a raise but hopefully it will be a cap friendly contract - big signing bonus but low first year base.
 
Best news is none of our players have signed new agents that i have heard of. That must mean negotiation is going smooth so far.
 
We need to cut our dead weight (Johnson, Simoneau, Shanle, David, etc.) and sign some good FAs.
 
How? Deuce's salary is negligible this year and the cap ramifications of cutting him would be ridiculous. I just can't see that happening this year and even restructuring isn't helping this year.

What do you mean by negligible? He will make 4.7 million this year, and will not be the starting RB. I think thats significant. The cap space could go from 30 million to 35 million. Thats not negligible.

I think Deuce will be asked back at half that salary. The other roughly 2.4 million as insignificant as it may sound to you could be used to sign one of our FA WRs or Centers back. Just because their is alot of cap space by no means do you stop making good decisions. As much as I like him, paying an aging RB with two major knee injuries starting money to play back up is not a wise decision. I'm confident that the FO realizes that.
 
How? Deuce's salary is negligible this year and the cap ramifications of cutting him would be ridiculous. I just can't see that happening this year and even restructuring isn't helping this year.

thats what i thought too, Deuce has a big deal but its back loaded, so when he really gets costly its further down the road, like near his retirement - as far as his health i heard on wwl, that he wants to start jogging and running now but they are holding him back, so it sounds like rehab is going well and he wants to be back - our injury concern is MM

as far as the 30 mill, contracts are spread over time so we dont have to pay the whole amount in one year, Colston - Smith are the big contracts and what ever FA - IMO there is only 1 CB with a high asking price, and 1 or 2 LB that are worth going after and that will truly be available - we could get 2 of those players with our cap space and sign MC and WS - and we could franchise WS and have him for 2 more yrs without a new deal if we needed to, He is a good player, but the dual DEs philosophy hasnt panned out now for several yrs even back with DH - we could franchise WS after next season and draft a DE next draft and avoid his big deal - the DE position will be as expensive as our offensive backfield and im not seeing us getting the production vs cost at that position with the two DE assuming they both have big new deals (especially if WS demands more than grant)

B. Yong should be resigned, so should Copper and Patten - the hitch to the WR corps is Meachem, we dont know what we have in him and by the time we find out it maybe too late if he isnt what they expected.

then there is the AS vs PT - if im not mistaken AS is a FA, i could see some teams wanting AS to fill a more prominent role as a runner than we use him as - he really showed something this year - we may not be able to hold on to him.
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account on our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Users who are viewing this thread

    Back
    Top Bottom