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

[Jackavelli]

I hope a new and lucrative contract doesn't have the same effect on Colston's play as Grant's contract did on his level of play

i don't think you can blame the money, it's assumed the saints asked him to gain weight and he played injured which could have affected his play.

 

[webster]

Mike D. is most inconsistent person he changes his positions with the wind.

 

[cruize]

The Saints will have the cap room to sign any free agent who is willing to come to the Saints.

 

[GoBnG]

On the deuce situation, i think with a good showing from PT in the offseason it will make d00se realize that his salary his a little high considering his production. He's a stand up guy, and he loves New Orleans, so i don't even think its going to be an issue with him. Now I just wish Charles Grant would restructure.

 

[basilisk]

The Saints will have the cap room to sign any free agent who is willing to come to the Saints.

we have too many holes to sign just one FA... either we get good, relatively young FAs or we build thru the draft... if thru the draft, be patient as fans for a couple of years... now if we trade for good players already under contract that would help (such as d. hall, cj, vilma - gotten for this year's 2nd, 3rd, 4th)

 

[livefromDC]

Did he address the possibility of losing some players who don't deserve their salaries and how that could benefit the cap?

I.E. Jason David, Shanle, Simineau, Fred Thomas, etc.

David isn't going anywhere.
Simoneau and Fred Thomas are gone.
Deuce is surely gone or back at a greatly reduced number.
Campbell is gone. Don't see his services being retained. We've been trying to replace him, i think Billy Miller did enough to keep Campbell from being asked back. We will continue to look for a TE, probably will draft one.

Brian Young is the reason why we will use our first pick on a DT, IMHO. We need an upgrade on the line, because of age and effectiveness. The interior of of line is just plain old. Of all positions we need, DT is the one with the least opportunity to fix in free agency. We're not coming out of pocket too much to bring Young back. I don't see it happening.

Next, Patten and Copper's contract will be negligible but necessary. No real dents there, especially with a wide WR FA market this year. We'll be fine.

Regardless of what people say, the most important in house free agent signing is Jeff Faine. He's the best FA center available and better than any center coming out this year. People who say let him walk aren't looking at the entire situation. We will not find a better replacement. And no, our second string center is not better than Faine. Cheaper if we want to go that route, but not better. Faine has Brees endorsement, thats enough for me.

Will Smith and Colston will probably start renegotiations either immediately (like right now) or not until training camp/season start. It will not happen during or near the free agency period. Starting Feb.15th or so the focus will be on FAs. Then there's the draft, mini-camps, etc. Plus, I DOUBT either will try to hold out. It will get done, I believe, during next season.

 

[MLU]

Mike D. is most inconsistent person he changes his positions with the wind.

Link(s)?

 

[St.Ryan]

Nothing has to be done with Will Smith. Let him play angry and for money next year. Then franchise him and give him a big money deal. Colston's the only one named that we have to do something about and even he won't be getting top 5 WR money anyway. The others are worthless to this organization with the exception of possibly Patten and with us taking Robert Meachem in the first round last year, his re-signing is not necessary. And if we did re-sign him, it would do nothing to prevent us from signing others.

 

[rlemieux]

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.

 

[Dan in Lafayette]

Some very good points raised in this thread.

Of the players Mike and others have listed, I think only Will Smith and Marques Colston would eat up any significant cap dollars. The others would woulld be within 500K above league minimum in any particular cap year.

It's true that the Saints have not come close to pushing the salary cap to its limits. I don't expect that to change.

The Saints will have enough cap room to make a splash in free agency if they want to pursue a couple of top tier players. But to think they would or could go after several top talents is just pie-in-the-sky thinking.

I am sure Deuce would be willing to restructure to lower the his cap hit for any one particular year, but probaly not lower the overall value of his contract. He will probably be evaluated through the final pre-season game of 2008. I hope he has enough left in the tank and his legs for a couple of more seasons.

 

[ReasonableDoubt]

Mike D. is most inconsistent person he changes his positions with the wind.

You shouldn't just go throwing out accusations like that without anything to back it up, especially someone as well liked as Mike D. is around here.

Show us the proof.

 

[saintmdterps]

i don't think you can blame the money, it's assumed the saints asked him to gain weight and he played injured which could have affected his play.

Both Smith and Grant looked beefier than last year. The added weight could be a contributing factor to Grant's injury. I'm not saying he dogged it due to the contract, just that perhaps fat contracts cause weight gain and injuries .

The unfortunate end result was a sub par year for CG. Oh well, here's to a better 2008 for all.

 

[FWtex]

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.

Smith and Colston will cost some money but neither is a must. They can always sign one and franchise the other if nothing gets worked this year. The saints can wait to see how everything shakes out and work on something this summer.

Don't want to lose Brian Young so he should be a priority, TE is no worry, Saints have upper hand on Patten because there are going to be some younger guys on the market so he will not attempt to break the bank, Stecker also will be a easy re-sign because he'll be in the same position on another team so why risk getting cut in preseason. Copper should be minimum salary if they re-sign him.

 

[canuckredux]

Does this mean we won't be able to sign Nnamdi Asomugha and Albert Haynesworth and Lance Briggs and Asante Samuel and Marcus Trufant and Chad Johnson and Karlos Dansby and all those other guys we were never going to get to begin with?

 

[workhorse]

Does this mean we won't be able to sign Nnamdi Asomugha and Albert Haynesworth and Lance Briggs and Asante Samuel and Marcus Trufant and Chad Johnson and Karlos Dansby and all those other guys we were never going to get to begin with?

you can in Madden 08. Most posters think it that easy.